Jack-Jack woke early from his cold and fitful sleep in the casserole dish. He heard Esmé and Syndrome talking nearby. He peeked out. Esmé was wearing a gaudy flame-colored dress. Syndrome was back in his old black-and-white super costume.
"What wonderful morning," Syndrome said. "By the end of today I'll have more sidekicks than ever before!"
"We'll need them, too, when we attack the Hotel Derrière," said Esmé.
"Now that we know the location of the Last Safe Place from the Snippet File," said Syndrome, "We can wipe out the last pesky bunch of second-rate supers I haven't been able to find."
Jack-Jack made a mental note of the name of the Last Safe Place for future reference.
"One more thing I have to do, Darlin'," Esmé said, "I'm goin' down to the burned-out HQ to check it out for myself. Maybe the two of them missed somethin'."
"My pare-- that is, The Man with a Beard and No Hair and the Woman with Hair and No Beard are very thorough," Syndrome replied.
"They might be holdin' somethin' back. They weren't goin' to tell you about the Snippet File at first," said Esmé.
"Suit yourself," said Syndrome. "Hurry up, though. We're expecting the Snow Scouts to get here soon."
"I'll take the sled down; it'll be faster," said Esmé.
Down below, Dash, Violet, and Quigley saw Esmé preparing to sled down the mountain. They ducked behind the ruined archway of the old library, which had the V.F.D. motto "World, be quiet -- hear?" carved on it.
"This could be our chance to turn the tables on them," said Quigley. "We could take her hostage and bargain to get Jack-Jack and the others free."
"Maybe," said Violet doubtfully. "It depends how Syndrome feels about her."
Esmé sledded down the slippery slope and skidded to a stop at the edge of the frozen lake. She walked toward the ruined building.
"I know there's someone there," Esmé said. "I spotted you movin' around last night. Nobody else did."
Violet, Dash, and Quigley moved out cautiously, suspecting a trap. They were still wearing the Snow Scout masks
Esmé didn't appear to recognize them. She held out her hands to show she wasn't armed. "I think I'm safe to assume you're enemies of Count Buddy," she said. "So am I."
"We're Volunteers," said Quigley.
"Volunteer Freedom Defenders, here to protect your headquarters?" asked Esmé with a mocking tone. "A bit late, aren't you?"
"We want to rescue the people Syndrome has taken," said Violet in a disguised voice. "Hugo, Colette, and Kevin. And the baby."
"That's what I was hopin'," said Esmé. "I only want revenge on Syndrome and the Incredibles children, not on Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Macroburst. None of those three had anythin' to do with my husband Monty's death. I'm even willin' to let the baby go too, since he's too young to be really held responsible."
"What did you have in mind?" Dash asked.
"Here's my offer," said Esmé. "I'll escort you up there, and you either work out a deal or fight Syndrome for them."
"Are you willing to pretend to be our hostage?" Quigley asked.
"No, I wouldn't make a good hostage. I've got Syndrome believin' I'm in love with him, but he wouldn't trade my life for anythin'. He'd just call your bluff."
"All right, we'll do it," said Violet. "How are you suggesting we approach?"
"There's a trail, but that'd take longer and we might run into Snow Scouts," said Esmé. "The best way is to haul the sled back up the waterfall, if you can."
Quigley led the way again, testing and re-carving handholds and footholds where necessary. The going was harder than last time, partly because the ice was starting to melt from the false spring weather, and partly because last time they weren't pulling a sled.
As they went up, all three were trying to decide: was it better to fight or negotiate? If the latter, what did they have to offer?