"At least you can steer it, right?" Violet asked Hector.
"Oui," Hector said.
"Duncan and Isadora, do you have any paper?" Quigley asked.
"I got paper and pencils for us by using cantrips when we were in the bird statue, so we could send messages," Isadora said. "Here you are."
Quigley moved his hand over the first sheet of paper, producing an instant map.
"Ok, so we started out from the village to the north-east," he said. "If we keep going straight, we'll be out into the hinterlands and then the mountains. We'll run out of fuel deep underground."
"If we get turned around to the south we can get to the coast. If we hit water, I can trap air in a force-field bubble like a diving ball and we can float to the surface," Violet suggested.
"Vi, you're really different than you used to be at school," Quigley said.
"Is different good?" she asked.
"Different is great. You have so much more confidence now," Quigley said.
"Thanks," Violet said. "You're doing pretty well at this hero business yourself, breaking us free and map-making and all."
Standing at a distance, Duncan sighed. He was glad that his brother was alive, but it was clear he had no chance with Violet now.
With the help of the map, they were able to get the Deus ex Machina headed in the right direction. The Parrs realized they were heading to the same beach where it all began, where Mr. Poe had met them with the news that their house had burned down and their parents were missing.
The machine ran all through the night, slowly drilling through dirt and rock. They started worrying again about running out of fuel underground. Hector had not been able to figure out how to get the tunneler to aim upward.
"At least the land slopes downward toward the sea," Quigley said. "If we keep running level we'll be getting closer and closer to the surface."
In the early morning, they popped out of the ground right at the edge of the beach. It looked like their momentum was going to carry them out into the water and they'd have to swim.
Then they saw the large man lying face-down on the sand a few yards in front of them.
Dash raced to the hatch, opened it and shouted, "Watch out! You're about to get run over!"
The yell woke the man from his stupor. He reached up a hand -- and stopped the machine in its tracks. He staggered up from the sand and they finally saw his face.
"Dad!" shouted Dash.
In an instant he was down on the beach beside his father. When he got there he found his mother was there too, half covered in beach sand.
"Violet, Jack-Jack, come here! It's Dad and Mom!" Dash called.
The three Parr children embraced their parents, weeping with joy.
"Kids... got any water?" said their mother with a dry mouth.
Dash rushed back into the vessel and came back with water and food from the supplies in an instant.
After their parents had something to eat and drink, they spent a long time on the beach catching up with the stories of their adventures. The Rydingers and Hector joined them.
Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) scowled for an instant when he recognized Bomb Voyage, but then he stuck out a hand. "You gave me a lot of trouble years ago, but anyone who saves my kids can't be all bad."
"Merci," said Hector, which meant "Thank you."
Helen Parr (Elastigirl) saw a newspaper blowing in the wind on the beach. She stretched out a rubbery arm and caught it. It was the front page of the "Daily Punctuation."
"IT TAKES A CHILD TO RAZE A VILLAGE" the headline read.
Helen read the story aloud: "The three Barr children, Veronica, Dutch, and Jerry-Jerry, have become rogue supers, sometimes known as 'supervillains'. After being abandoned by their parents, these three children have become increasingly delinquent. They gained some favorable notice when they 'saved the city' from a giant robot, though it now appears that it was a publicity stunt arranged by their first guardian, Count Brody Paine.
"After this, they had a falling out with Count Brody and went from one foster living situation to another. They caused accidents at Salubrious Stench Lumber Mill (according to the manager, who asked to remain anonymous). They disrupted Prudence Preparatory School (according to the Vice-Principal, Bernie Nero). Then they set a fire which ruined a society auction (according to their foster mothe Esmè Sansweet).
"This week they were taken in by a friendly community of retired people. When Count Brody came to visit, they murdered him with their 'super powers'. They were apprehended for this crime but then they broke out of jail, set fire to the village, and escaped in a stolen vehicle in the company of the notorious bank-robbing villain Bomb Voyage.
"The Super Relocation Agency says to be on the lookout for these children. They should be considered armed and extremely dangerous."
"Ridiculous!" said Helen Parr. "It's full of mistakes and distortions from beginning to end!"
"The trouble is, it's hard to fight because we don't know who to trust," said Bob Parr. "Syndrome must have connections with the paper, for them to come out with something this biased."
"I don't think we can trust Mr. Poe," said Violet. "He must have known what the V.F.D. village was when he sent us there."
"Oh, you just now stopped trusting him?" said Dash. "I stopped when he sent us to work in a sawmill."
"We need to lie low for a while, let things die down a bit, and plan how to make a comeback," said Helen.
"May we hide out with you?" asked Isadora. "We were targeted by Syndrome, too."
"Better not," said Helen. "It's harder to hide a large group. Quigley has joined the underground Volunteer Freedom Defenders; they can take you in and give you training. I'll tell you how to contact Jock's brother, The Lemon, and his sister KitFox."
"Et moi?" said Hector, meaning "And me?"
"It would be better if you didn't stay with us either, Hector" said Bob. "Look at the damage the paper did by linking our names. You could join the V.F.D. too, or start a new life on your own."
They sent off the Rydingers and Hector after tearful goodbyes among the kids. Quigley and Violet promised they would meet again, no matter what happened.
All five Parrs held a family meeting to plan for the future.
"What can we do?" asked Mr. Incredible. "I'm out of a job and a secret identity."
"Hemoglobin Hospital is near here," said Violet. "They have a new wing under construction. Maybe we could hide out there."
"That might work for a little while," said Bob. "But then we need to find jobs."
"There's an ad in the paper about a carnival in the hinterlands that needs freaks," said Helen. "I'd make a good contortionist. You could be a strongman or a hunchback."
"A hunchback?" asked Bob.
"Just hunch over like you used to do when you drove that little car," said Helen.
Bob hunched over and made a sad face. "I'm Hugo the hunchback."
Helen twisted herself into a knot. "And I'm Colette the contortionist."
Both of them laughed.
"Jack-Jack could always morph into something, like a monster-baby," said Dash. But how could Violet and I be freaks?"
"I know," Violet said. "You could wear my costume, the one I can make invisible. Then you climb on my back and put your head on my shoulder. We could be a two-headed freak."
The whole family laughed at the absurdity of the disguise.
"That's so crazy it just might work," said Helen. "You'd just need a scarf around your necks to hide how his head didn't join."
"Whatever we do now, we're together again and that's what counts," said Bob, hugging them all.
"We're the Incredibles!" said Violet.
"Ingrebbles!" said Jack-Jack.
Here I will end my story as the lives of the Parr children enter a new phase, still unfortunate but reunited with their parents. I hope that this writing will eventually be published and set the record straight about their heroism, and that one day supers will again be able to do their heroic work openly.
With all due respect,
The Lemon