Chapter 1: Schism
It has been three years since the events of the Incredibles movie…
Some things have changed…
And some things never change…
Metroville.
A street. A building. A police car.
And within the police car, two males officers sat, staring at a steel and glass ten-story building. Though the one in the passenger seat was sipping a coffee, neither was eating donuts. Just so you know.
"Man, that Luke kid was lucky. Finding out he's a Super. Why can't we ever have that kind of luck?" Complained the policeman in the driver's seat. According to his badge, his name was Officer Biggs.
"Same reason we always get these 'important' arrests." Replied the other police officer, as he sipped from his coffee. His name was Officer Wedge.
"How long have they been in there?"
"About seven minutes."
"Any need to panic yet?"
"Can't see why. It's been quiet."
"Yes, but these things are usually over in three or less."
"Yeah, but that bastard's tricky. You saw what he did. It is, after all, why we once again have drawn the marvelous duty that is 'Super-watching'." Wedge replied, and took another sip of coffee.
You are probably wondering why Officers Biggs and Wedge are alone. You see, after the Syndrome incident, Supers once again began to emerge from the shadows the governments had forced them into to avoid the myriad of frivolous lawsuits that had cropped up eighteen years ago. The attack of the Underminer (also beaten down by the Incredibles) convinced the government that they had been lucky for a while, but Supers weren't going away and even if you tried to ban them there would come a time when they would choose to use their powers. It was human nature, after all. The government, in the end, decided it would be easier to let the Supers out and practice their powers in a lawful way rather then trying to repress them and risk another Syndrome or worse, a group of high level power Supers deciding they'd had enough and attacking the country. That whirlwind of decisions and retreads and general bureaucratic nonsense had lasted about eighteen months, during which the Incredibles and the police of Metroville hadn't been on the best of terms. But once the laws were in place that let the Supers return and new faces began cropping up, the Metroville police had quickly realized that it was better to work WITH the Incredibles rather then against them. Especially since some of those new faces were villains who could laugh off being clubbed, maced, tasered, or shot (and in one really bad case, all of the above). So these days, the police had a tenuous alliance with the superhero family.
One of the factors of that alliance was Super battles. The police had VERY quickly learned that attacking Supers in large groups usually just ensured the rogue Super or villain would just have plenty of targets to choose from. But at the same time, they couldn't just run away: they were supposed to protect the city, and had done a fine job of it before people who could rip apart cars with their bare hands and shoot beams from their brains had started showing up. So the police compromised. When a situation that pretty much ensured the Incredibles would show up, the police would do what they could until they did and then redraw back a bit and leave one lone car manned by two officers while the rest stayed a street or two away. If the Incredibles won, the officers left there made the arrest and all was well. If the villain proved to be harder then that…there was minimum collateral damage. It was the best of a bad situation, over all.
Not that that made the two officers who got assigned to such things any happier. It was either boring or terrifying. Neither was a fun state to be in.
"Say, have you seen that Invision lately?" Officer Biggs commented. In the three years since the Incredibles had returned, only Violet had changed her name. Bob was still Mr. Incredible, Helen was Elastigirl, Dash was Dash (Or The Dash, and how people never made the connection showed how dense people can naturally be), and Jack-Jack was Jack-Jack because Helen refused to let him go on any missions despite his developing powers (She probably had a fair clue: Jack Jack may one day be a very powerful Super but at the moment he was only four years old. But then again, she was still hesitant to allow Violet to join them, and Violet was nearly an adult). Violet, after much wavering, had chosen a Super name: Invision, a cross between the word invisible and envision, which meant to visualize aka see something. The combined word created a nice irony, and also was not thought of by me. It was thought up by the author TheFLHurricane. I'm just borrowing it Hurricane. Really. Quit yelling at me! Oh right, the fic.
"Kinda hard." Wedge snickered.
"Yeah I know, but when she's NOT invisible, I mean whoa! She's still too thin, but man, she's starting to develop some real legs! Still flat as a board though, but that just makes her a real carpenter's dream…"
Wedge whacked his partner on the shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for!"
"One, she's seventeen. Two, even if she was older, I doubt you'd see your next birthday if Mr. Incredible overhears you talking about his daughter that way."
"What? He doesn't have super hearing!"
"He's a father. You don't NEED special powers to have that."
An awkward silence.
"…Hey, you know what they call a Quarter Pounder in France?" Biggs finally said.
"That stopped being funny about a decade ago Biggs." Wedge said, as he finished his coffee and rolled down the window to toss the cup away.
"Oh." Biggs replied. "You know, something occurs to me. What DO they call a Whopper in Fr-"
CRASH!
It was a good thing Wedge had finished his coffee: he probably would have spilled it all over himself at the sudden noise, had it not been finished and had he not been leaning out the window to throw the crumpled cup away, said crumpled cup falling from his fingers as his head jerked up to find the source of the sound.
What Officer Wedge had missed (which had in turn caused the noise) was the window smashing outward as two figures flew out from it. Officer Wedge managed to get his head up just in time to see them separate, as the two seemed to float in the air for a second, belying powers they didn't have, and then gravity seized them, and they plummeted down.
Or rather, one did.
For the second figure flipped himself over, in sight only for a brief moment as he gestured below him, and then he disappeared. The angle wasn't good enough for Officer Wedge to see what had happened to the second figure: the air beneath him had suddenly split open like a paper bag, a hole opening in reality that revealed crackling white energy, a hole that the figure fell into and disappeared.
For half a second.
For then a second tear ripped open in front of the cop car, several feet above the ground, and the figure fell through it, landing lightly as the rip immediately closed up.
The other figure didn't get such an easy trip, as he landed a second later.
The noise of the impact rang through the street, even causing it to ripple a bit, as the second landing figure was driven to his knees, his hands planting against the ground. He remained in the kneeling position for a second, breathing heavily, even as Officer Wedge pulled himself back into the car and looked at a shocked Officer Biggs.
The kneeling figure was the larger of the two, a massive frame balanced on legs that seemed a little too small for their own good, compared to a set of huge shoulders and a chest that didn't exactly ripple with muscle but was still firm and unyielding rather then saggy. The figure, the man, was clad in a skintight red outfit with black briefs, gloves, and boots, and he shook safety glass from his thinning blonde hair as he started to stand up. His eyes were covered in a simple black mask, but while the mask somehow hid identity, it did not hide the intensity that glowered in those deep blue eyes.
He was Bob Parr, aka Mr. Incredible. And he wasn't very happy, as he continued to get up, his knees popping explosively. In moments like this, he missed the days of his youth, back when he could leap off a fifteen-story building and the only thing that suffered in his landing was the concrete. The fall he had just made had been a shade under seven stories, and while his legs weren't actually injured, they hadn't much liked the landing. For all his training, Bob couldn't turn back the clock, and the fact remained that a man in his mid 40's was more then a few years away from his physical prime. Still, it would have been worth it…if his charge had worked in its intent to end the fight. It hadn't, and Bob knew it, for even as he glared at the figure before him, it spoke.
"Ah…good to know your body hasn't crossed over the peak to senility yet, Mr. Incredible." Said the villain before him. While Mr. Incredible was a giant, the man facing him was lean, his muscles tight and compact rather then large and showy. He was wearing a skintight blue and black outfit, and over his chest, arms, and legs was a sleek metal and plastic apparatus that was clear in some areas to show glowing parts underneath. His head was shaved bald, and his scalp and face were zig-zagged by several long, deep scars. He didn't look too bad, and while the look in his eye wasn't exactly nice, he couldn't be said to be outright malevolent. More like mischievously amused, as he stroked a scar on his chin.
Bob growled, a little in pain and more in attempted intimidation.
"It'll take a better man then you to take me down, Schism." He retorted.
"Wanna bet?" Was Schism's short reply, as he took his hand away from his chin and rubbed the fingers together in the way some people do to indicate confidence.
Though he hated to admit it, Bob had to wonder if Schism didn't have due cause to believe his last comment. His real name was Trevaine North, and Bob had actually fought him before, nearly twenty years ago, just before the Supers had been put away. Back then, Trevaine had been a scrawny kid with greasy hair who called himself Hole. The name, while stupid and immature, was apt: Trevaine's powers allowed him to open small dimensional rips, holes in reality, and transport himself and other objects through them. He'd graduated from copping feels to petty theft with his power, and then he had started getting ambitious and tried to do some serious robbery. Mr. Incredible had fought him twice in those days, and they had been easy battles. Trevaine's powers only let him open up small holes, about the size of a basketball at most, and he could only transport a maximum distance of about twenty feet. Not bad if you want to pocket a watch, but very bad if you want to rob a bank. Not to mention Trevaine was obnoxious and a pervert, and tended to throw temper tantrums. All in all, an aggravating but far from dangerous foe. When the Supers went underground, Trevaine had disappeared and Bob had forgotten all about him.
And then, about a year ago, Trevaine had resurfaced.
And boy oh boy, had the seventeen years changed him. In place of the scrawny kid with greasy hair was a muscled, scarred man. Bob had heard rumors that some Supers, rather then go underground, had been drafted into service by the government, their powers being used for the black ops stuff writers like Tom Clancy was always penning works of fiction about. In examination, powers like Trevaine's would seem perfect for such work. If he could be properly taught.
And that certainly appeared to be the case, as Trevaine was now a calm, cool, collected adult, completely secure in his abilities. Which was great, except apparently whoever had Sam Fisher-ed him had either lost track of Trevaine or they had let him go to do what he pleased (and if he had been doing Delta Force style operations, who knew what dirty secrets he might have within his mind that allowed him to do such things with retaliation), as Trevaine had made his way back to Metroville to pick up where he left off: robbing banks and the usual places that villains robbed.
Though as Bob had learned, it wasn't for the money. Indeed, while Trevaine, now with the much better name of Schism, did steal and raid, he didn't seem to care much if he lost the money in the process of escaping. Despite his new training and the greater powers that had resulted, Bob and his family had defeated Schism several times. The last time had actually been Dash and Violet alone. And each time, Schism had disappeared from prison, despite the attempts to rein in his warping powers, and showed up a bit later to try again. And while he would gladly fight (or rather, use his powers to ensure he didn't have to) with Bob and Co, he never seemed interested in hurting them or getting revenge for his previous defeats. Indeed, he seemed to going through the motions of being a villain more for something to do rather then any real evil intent.
That didn't make him any less dangerous though. Schism did not go out of his way to harm people, but he was quite capable of doing it if he deemed it necessary. And unfortunately, as Bob had found out, he was not the type to blame his defeats on those who had beaten him. After losing to his children, Schism had clearly decided he needed to take a look at his powers and tactics and see where he could improve.
And the proof was in the pudding, or rather the outfit that Schism was now wearing over his costume. Whatever it was, it enhanced his abilities. Bob had already gotten a clear look at that fact, as Schism's ability to open faster, larger warps that went farther and in some cases through solid objects (something Schism had never done before, as line of sight was generally needed for teleporting. If you teleport, in any way, and aren't careful, you'll end up warping into the same space as a solid object. Such an action would result in your quick and very messy death. Schism's new 'warp to where he couldn't see' either indicated a newfound cockiness/insanity or some kind of improvement granted by his suit, and since the former was out of character for the man Trevaine had become, Bob had guessed it was the latter, probably a device in the vein of a bat's sonar) had caused Bob to chase him all the way up through the building of the bank Schism had robbed. And he had gotten nowhere, as Schism and the belt with pouches stuffed with money (no sack over the shoulder with a dollar sign for Schism, oh no, he was up to date on everything) had constantly eluded him. Finally, Bob had tried a blind charge hoping to catch Schism off guard. It had, and they'd gone through the window.
And as you know, Schism had landed better then Mr. Incredible.
The older Super wasn't close to being beaten though. Though he seemed to hold human life in higher regard then some of the villains Bob had fought, Schism still broke the law. And Mr. Incredible upheld the law.
He was going to try anyway.
Whether or not the officers known to us as Biggs and Wedge were going to do was another story.
"He's still fighting him! Think we should help?" Wedge asked.
"Are you kidding? Do you remember what happened to Officer Dack? No way!" Biggs replied.
"Well look. Mr. Incredible doesn't seem injured or banged up, and he doesn't seem afraid of the villain. Maybe we can help!"
"And maybe we better start the car and drive away!"
"And that won't get his attention any less then confronting him will?"
Biggs paused, then groaned/growled inwardly.
"All right, fine! I hope this doesn't crash and burn…" Biggs complained.
"Ready…" Wedge said.
"FREEZE! POLICE! PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD NOW!" Biggs roared as he got out of the car and aimed his sidearm at Schism, Wedge mirroring him. For all his doubts, Biggs could talk the talk.
Walking the walk however…
Schism glanced over to the policemen. He smirked with one corner of his mouth.
"Such heroic nonsense."
And Schism gestured at the men.
Wedge was about to squeeze the trigger when the ground beneath him was suddenly gone, and with a sudden yelp he found himself falling, his car door passing past his eyes…and then suddenly he was in a brief field of shifting colors, and his head buzzed with vertigo…and then he was suddenly falling again, and landing. The good news was, the landing was soft. The bad news was, the landing place smelled horrendous.
"Wedge! You…!" Biggs yelled, as he watched his partner vanish.
Much like someone beforehand, he should have been using the time he was using to yell to shoot.
As Biggs suddenly found himself falling, just like Wedge…and ending up in the same Dumpster Schism had dumped Wedge into, his fall knocking the lid shut. A loud stream of curses came from within the garbage receptacle.
"There…now that that's settled…" Schism said, as he lowered his hand and turned back to Mr. Incredible. "You were saying something about beating me, old man?"
"Hunh." Bob replied. "I might be older Schism, but time has done nothing to slow me down. Indeed, all it's done is give me the experience and wisdom needed to beat the butts of people like you."
"Really? Because you seem to be a tad slow in implementing that knowledge." Schism replied. "And second of all, Mr. Incredible, your kids aren't here. You can say ass if you want too."
"A true man does not need a vice as mean and low as profanity to put across his point."
"Perhaps not, but while your overall repartee might have improved with time Mr. Incredible, I have yet to see an equal improvement in your skills."
"Oh, you haven't BEGUN to see what I can do!" Bob said, as he body hunched a bit, his fists out and ready, a classic boxing/brawling stance. Schism smirked again.
"Something you SHOULD learn, old man. You speak of improving yourself, and you may yet be revealed to speak the truth. But a factor you should always contemplate is the fact that such things as progress do not exist exclusively in your domain!"
And the fist shot at the back of Schism's hand, the arm that possessed it elongating out like rubber and aiming right for the back of Schism's skull.
As Schism stuck his right hand over his left shoulder and gestured, and a small rip opened behind his head, the fist shooting through it. Mr. Incredible only had half a second to goggle at the fact that Schism had somehow seen the blow coming when the air tore open in front of him and the fist shot out, catching Bob right between the eyes and sending him tumbling back. Mr. Incredible, older or not, was still very tough, but part of toughness is self-awareness. Even the mightiest warrior could be knocked down if caught off guard, and Bob had been so, completely.
"B…Mr. Incredible!" Helen screamed as she watched in horror. She'd hit her own husband, and to make it worse, as he tumbled back, Schism turned on his heel, facing Elastigirl, looking quite pleased at his maneuver. As her arm was withdrawn back through the rip Schism had opened, Schism gestured at it and it closed. He did not seem to notice Helen's shocked semi-slip of nearly calling Bob by his real name.
"Ah, Elastigirl. So nice of you to drop by…and so rude of you to attack me from behind. Is that not the usual motif of my so called breed?" Schism taunted. "It appears I shall have to remind you of your so called higher calling. I will utilize no such tactics: I strike from the front."
"And I'll make you regret it!" Helen snarled as she slashed out a leg at him, the limb extending out and lashing like a whip. Schism jumped over it and did a one handed cartwheel away, and as he regained his feet Elastigirl coiled back the leg she had just used to attack, balanced on it, and then sent her other leg stabbing out at Schism like a battering ram. The limb once again plunged into a white void summoned by the villain, but Helen had expected that, and even as she had struck she had been specially coiling the leg bearing her weight in a certain way, and as Schism stepped away and back from the void he had made to dodge her last attack she finished her preparation as her leg folded beneath her like a spring and then shot her forward towards Schism. His look of alarm was worth all the trouble.
"Heads up!" Helen yelled. What she really wanted to yell was she knew Schism, knew that he could only form one warp at a time, and with him having used up his warp to deflect her forward kick he was wide open, he'd never be able to close the original warp and open another in time, but she would never have the time to yell all that in her very brief trip…
And it's probably best that she didn't, as she would have looked very foolish, as Schism's alarm morphed into calm amusement and he snapped out his arms in front of him.
And Helen found another warp opening up in front of him, and her eyes widened, but it was too late to do anything as she flew into the tear, her leg being yanked out of the original one and following her body into the portal, one that Helen had not expected to form there as she thought she had used up the sole one Schism could summon at a time. Which was usually the case.
Not any more though, as Elastigirl vanished completely.
Mr. Incredible was finally getting his senses back when the tear opened up near him and his wife flew out, none of her momentum interrupted. Unfortunately, her target had changed from a human being to a steel and reinforced glass wall.
Thud.
"H-ELASTIGIRL!" Bob yelled/screamed, almost slipping himself as he ran over to his wife.
"Don't assume my esteemed foes." Schism said. "I'll be going now."
The fact that Schism immediately turned tail and ran no longer concerned Bob Parr. He was infinitely more concerned with his wife, as he ran over and knelt by her side, as she groaned slightly and rolled over. His panic quickly faded: she seemed ok. She may have crashed face first into a steel wall, but Helen was well trained enough to utilize the practice of going limp before impact with objects, a tactic that could help in lessening or preventing injury. Combined with Helen's natural rubber-esque state, it was even more effective. But she had still crashed face first into a wall. No one found that much fun.
"Helen? You ok?" Bob asked.
"Mmmmmm…ow." Helen said, as she blinked, trying to refocus the two blurry Bob's she saw into one. "I'm fine. Just a bruise."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Stop Schism!"
"You got it." Bob said as he got back to his feet.
"Bob!" The name was a whisper, just in case. Bob looked back at his wife, who was still rubbing her forehead.
Her eyes were clear enough though.
"PUT HIM DOWN. HARD."
"Yes ma'am." Bob said, and took off after Schism. And while his son was the fast one in the family, Bob Parr did the force of speed proud as he pursued his foe.
He caught up to him within a block: Schism was apparently only warping for brief jumps and using his feet for the rest of his escape. A mistake, as he disappeared around a corner. Bob chased him around it and found him reappearing in the middle of the street. Not able to help himself, he roared: he wanted Schism to know what was after him.
Schism didn't seem too perturbed, as he turned to look at Bob.
"Well. I guess playing on your softer side wasn't as effective a tactic as I expected. I guess I shall have to employ more traditional methods." Schism said, and snapped out his hand at Bob.
And…nothing happened.
A pause.
"…Oh dear." Schism said, and gestured at Bob again. Nothing, again. Bob arched an eyebrow, his anger briefly forgotten in his confusion.
"This is NOT a good time…" Schism said as he pulled his arm inward and began typing at the machinery on the limb. It finally hit Bob: his gear was glitching. And since nothing had happened, it appeared that Schism's enhanced power came at the cost that he couldn't use it at all if the machinery failed.
That was the only cue Bob needed, as he took off down the street, charging at Schism like a rogue bull.
"Thisssssss…could be bad." Schism said as he frantically punched buttons, not looking at the approaching Mr. Incredible…at least not until the charging Super was five feet from him, arms out.
"NOW I'VE GOT YOU!" Bob yelled, as he grabbed for Schism.
Whose worriment had abruptly vanished.
"Psyche."
And then the warp tore open behind Schism, and instead of grabbing him Bob found himself shoving Schism back into it, unable to interrupt his momentum any better then his wife could, as the two of them disappeared into the white hole. It closed shut behind them.
Schism had been playing possum. His gear was working fine. He'd just pretended the opposite was true to sucker Bob in.
For what was about to be revealed, as two new holes opened up.
One did so in the air, several feet above and parallel to the ground, from which Schism dropped.
The other opened up several foot from where the original had been…and facing at a different angle, as Bob ran out of the hole and, like his wife, found his target had changed. But there were three key differences between him and her. One was the fact that he was running, not flying. Another was the fact that he'd built up even more of a head of steam then his wife had. And the last was the fact that Bob Parr wasn't quite as well trained in such tactics as going limp to avoid injury as his wife was.
So when Bob saw the stone wall rearing up before him, and unable to stop in time, he reacted instinctively: protect himself, as he put his head down.
Bad idea. For while the stone wall might have easily stopped a normal man…this was Mr. Incredible.
Bob smashed right through the wall, crashing through the old rock like it wasn't there, his power propelling him through the corner of the building and reducing the whole thing to crumbling wreckage. Dusty smoke plumed from the crash, and Bob vanished for a second.
Schism watched.
And then coughing came from the smoke, and then Mr. Incredible emerged, a bit dusty but no worse for wear.
"Did you think that was all it would take to stop me!" He yelled at Schism, his anger at what Schism had done with his wife compounded with the fact that his new powers had just caused Bob to cause property damage, something he hated to do, because you never knew if another frivolous lawsuit was around the corner.
"You? No." Schism replied.
And then a low groaning noise filled Bob's ears. He looked up behind him.
"That building you just smashed through…that I'm more certain of." Schism replied.
Bob gaped. Schism apparently had greater observational abilities then he thought. He hadn't just caused Bob to smash through the corner of any building: he had picked a structure that apparently needed the corner Bob had smashed as a load bearer. Without it…it was very slight, but Bob could see that the building was starting to sag, just a bit…on a route to full blown collapse.
Or at least, that would have been the case, as the building began to lean down just a tad…and then powerful hands were up against it, as Bob ran back into the wrecked corner and propped up the building with his arms and body. It was a strain, but nothing he couldn't handle.
The only problem was…he couldn't move. If he left, the building would resume it's sagging-on-route-to-collapsing. And as he stood there, Bob realized that was exactly what Schism had planned.
"Mr. Incredible!" Elastigirl said as she dropped down onto the street from a building and found her husband propping another one up. She looked from him to Schism, and her eyes narrowed in anger.
"Hmmmmm, looks like you alone aren't enough to hold that up." Schism replied. Elastigirl looked back at the building, and saw that despite Bob's great strength it was still shifting, just a bit. In a brief panic, she leapt over and also propped herself under the building…and then realized that if her husband couldn't hold it up, she wasn't going to stave off the inevitable any time soon. That didn't stop her though, as Bob looked at her in a "What are you doing" expression.
"Ah, the ever classic dilemma. Chase the villain and risk the lives of innocents, or remove that risk and any chance of success on the previous choice." Schism said. "I already know what choice you'll make. Tah tah for now."
And once again, Schism turned and headed off down the street. This time, no one chased him.
"What are you doing!" Bob said.
"Helping YOU. That's what couples do you know!" Helen shot back.
"I can handle this!"
"Oh no, I'm not leaving you here to be noble in the course of having a building collapse on you!"
"But he's getting away!"
"No…" Helen said, as one of her thumbs elongated and snaked down to her waist, on which her belt rested a small button. She pressed it. "He's not."
"Why are we still not allowed on missions?" Dash complained.
"Because Mom and Dad are worried about us, they don't want us to get hurt, we're still their babies despite our ages, and that will always be the case because they're good parents, no matter how skilled we may become with our powers. That's the answer Dash, it was the answer five minutes ago, and the next time you start whining, it will still be the answer!" Violet replied, her voice calm but with an edge of terseness. Dash screwed up his face a bit, as he pondered whether to sulk or start annoying his big sister to cover up the fact she was right.
Violet's expression as she turned back to where she was watching the street from her position on the third story building made him decide to do neither.
Not much had changed with Dashiel Parr during the past three years. He could still move and run fast, he was still an expert at annoying his sister and teachers, and he still referred to himself in the third person half the time. Though 13 now, he was still a rather short kid, a fact that greatly irritated him. His father told him he was a late bloomer, that he himself had been a beanpole until he was nearly fifteen, at which point his growth had seemingly kicked in overnight, followed swiftly by the first emergence of his powers (powers at birth seemed to be a child of Supers thing). Maybe it was true, but it still irritated him. And not just because he was teased at school by some of the meaner jocks (Dash ignored them: he could literally run rings around them if he chose to, and that was satisfaction enough. Well, that and the occasional zip-wedgie). No, the fact that Dash was still rather small meant that he couldn't put much power behind his blows, an aspect that had proven to be a liability a few times (so what if you could punch a villain fifty times in two seconds, if he just felt like he was being poked?). An infuriating facet of his body, indeed, but one Dash lived with. After all, for all his speed, he couldn't speed up time, and besides, even if he couldn't hit hard, that was what his family was for. He'd be the one that was hard to hit. No, all in all, the Dash had a pretty good life.
Violet, or Invision, might have claimed the same…until recently. It was that recent event that showed on her face now, even as she tried to conceal it. But this was something even her powers couldn't obscure. And it kept Dash from sulking or annoying her. For all his impertinence, Dash did know when it was time to keep ones mouth shut. Especially in an area as delicate as this.
Nearly three weeks ago, Tony Rydinger had broken off his relationship with Violet. His reason had been the classic 'I think we should just be friends.' Line.
Bastard.
The sad thing was, Dash understood the true reason, though he hadn't been able to bring himself to tell Violet, who had been pretty depressed about the whole thing, thinking it was her fault, and she was still working through it. You would think that would provide Dash with more then enough motivation to tell her what he knew, but that was not the case. He had a good reason not to tell her, despite the fact that she blamed herself. Telling her the truth might just worsen that self-accusation, not to mention that his mom had barely talked his dad out of doing several not exactly violent but far from pleasant things to Tony for his decision: if Dash talked, he might get worked up again, not to mention what Violet would think. True, this wasn't an absolute: it could very well help her…or it could make her even more depressed.
It was complicated, and it made Dash's head hurt. He wished he could go back to teasing Violet about her relationship, rather then struggle with the knowledge of why it had failed.
In the end, the breakup hadn't been due to anything Violet had done. Well, mostly. The only thing Dash could possibly attribute to her was the fact that she had told Tony about her powers about a year ago. She had wanted to be completely honest with him, and not have anything to hide, in order to make sure the relationship had strong grounds rather then ones built on falsehoods. In retrospect, she probably should have listened to Lucius when it came to secret identities and whom you should reveal them to.
Because Violet had fallen prey to hundreds upon hundreds of years of social engineering, or rather, Tony had. Oh, it had been very slight at first, and it was a wonder the almost-always impatient Dash had picked up on it, but he HAD noticed it: a discomfort around Violet that Tony had never shown before. A discomfort that had only grown, a discomfort Violet had been completely oblivious to, until it had finally come crashing down on her head. To her, Tony had broken up with her because of something she had done. But the irony was, what had attracted Tony to Violet in the first place had also been the reason he had broken it off with her. He had been attracted to her newfound confidence after the Syndrome incident…and broken it off when he found out the reason behind said confidence was her powers.
At the heart of it, Tony had found his manhood being challenged. For all the efforts of feminism and such, a part of Tony hadn't been able to handle that his girlfriend could form shields that could stop cars in their tracks. After two eons of men being told they are gods and women were there to serve them, one cannot undo what had almost become a natural by birth mindset within a century. In the end, Tony had given in to that weakness and left Violet, breaking her heart.
On one level Dash was quite angry at Tony for doing it, but on another he couldn't help but understand it. Tony was a jock, a person surrounded by testosterone and forever being challenged to prove himself by his fellow males…and then his thin almost frail girlfriend revealed she'd been tangling with forces that could turn the greatest football squad into so much paste. Oh, he had tried, Dash supposed, which is probably why it had continued on for another year, but in the end, whatever voices that were speaking in Tony's head had made him choose: did he kick Violet to the curb or stay with her and live with the fact that her powers would ensure she'd always, in some form or another, wear the pants…
No, Dash couldn't blame him.
That didn't mean he hadn't chosen wrong, as far as Dash was concerned. But he couldn't change what had happened, or change who Tony was. The sad thing was, Dash had thought Tony was stronger then that. And considering how Tony's eventual weakness had affected him, he hated to know what it might have been doing to Violet. She was the one who had to move on, and it's always hard to move on when people are revealed to be much weaker then you expected and hoped for.
In a way, Dash was reminded of the plotline of one of Violet's favorite shows, Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Writer's Note: I have heard theories that the Incredibles take place in the 70's or so, but unless I see an actual date I will assume it happened in modern times and the retro style was just that, a style), which Dash would never admit to watching but did. The show had had a very similar plotline like what had happened to Violet. During the first three seasons, the main character, Buffy, had been in a relationship with a character called Angel, a vampire with a soul. The fans had taken to the relationship with great fervor, but the writers had ultimately decided that it couldn't last and had broken them up at the end of the third season, as Angel was spun off into his own show and left the Buffy cast. The relationship, as mentioned, had been idolized by most fans, obsessively, and as a result they had been prepared to immediately hate the next relationship Buffy had gotten into. That had happened the next season with a new male character called Riley. The amount of hatred and abuse the fans had promptly heaped upon Riley was absolutely ridiculous. He was not a bad character, and Dash had actually thought he had provided a matching opposite to Buffy quite well, but he wasn't Angel, and that was all the fans needed or cared for. Though how much so Dash didn't know, he was certain that all the venom directed towards poor Riley was part of the reason that the writers had broken up that relationship within a season. It was doomed from the start, with all the Buffy/Angel Forever fans.
However, despite the fact that the writers had finally (in some way anyway) caved to all the fan pressure, the reason they broke up the couple had struck Dash as rational. Rather then suddenly revealing a huge flaw Riley had been concealing the whole time, in the end it had fit the character. Riley had been the classic corn-fed farm boy, and part of him had instinctively believed the whole men do the work/women have the babies mindset that had been put forth for so many years. In the end, he had wanted Buffy to need him, and Buffy, the Slayer, couldn't, not in the way he wanted. Denied of this irrational but important factor, Riley had drifted away from Buffy and eventually left to re-join the military he had come from. One should note that Buffy found out Riley was leaving and, despite the fact she couldn't need him the way he wanted, she still deeply cared for him and had chased after him to try and get him to stop. But in the end, she had been too late, as Riley was airlifted out of the town via helicopter and out of the Buffy canon as a regular. One should also note that Riley had seen Buffy as he was being taken away and had chosen to ignore her and her efforts to get him to stay. And hence had ended Buffy/Riley, much to the fans' happiness.
It was a lot like Tony and Violet. A small part of Tony wanted Violet to be the lesser in the relationship, and when Violet had proved she would never be that lesser, that small part had eventually grown to the point it had become the driving force in his decision. In a small way, Tony hadn't been able to help it. To quote another character from the Buffy show, 'Nothing can defeat the penis!'. And when something was revealed to do just that, Tony took his ball and went home.
He wished he could tell his sister what he knew, but there was a difference between the lengthy narrative that had just been delivered and what would actually come out of Dash's mouth. A great one. It was a delicate thing to tell someone, that a person you loved had stopped loving you back because he had become intimidated by you, and Dash had a feeling he wasn't up to the task. And he couldn't tell his dad, because his dad would just want to kill Tony, and he couldn't tell his Mom, because of a combination of the previous two factors. So for the moment, Dash bore his knowledge in silence, and did not bother his sister as she watched the street.
He hoped Tony realized he had made a terrible mistake and came crawling back. He wasn't sure if he wanted Violet to forgive him or kick him to the curb yet. With his continued pondering on whether and how he should tell Violet what he knew, that was a secondary thought.
Little did he know that Violet knew the very facts that Dash was struggling with. She was far from a dunce, and it hadn't been hard for her to piece together the reasons things had fallen apart and how they related to her. But she had kept silent, for her own reasons. Even if she could accept that this had been a flaw on Tony's part, not hers, she had still loved him, and what he had done had hurt. She wouldn't blame herself (despite what Dash was getting a vibe of), but it still hurt, not to mention the fact that even if she moved on, this situation could just repeat itself. The insecurities of men, after all, were legion…
So she watched, as did Dash, in silence, trying to focus on the task at hand. Even though she was basically doing the equivalent of twiddling her thumbs while her parents did the heavy lifting, she knew very well that could change in an instant. So for now, she was Invision. The problems of Violet Parr could wait. And for all the fangirls of the Tony/Violet 'ship, you can put away the napalm because this is my plot, I'm going somewhere with it, and all the flaming in the world isn't going to make me change my mind! Oh right, the fic.
In the end, Invision was saved having to wait long, or having her brother finally put aside his conundrum and resume annoying her to pass the time, as her waist buzzed. Or rather a tiny device on it did.
"We have something." Violet said, as she stood up and swept her hair behind her to get it out of the way.
"What?"
"Don't know, general signal…" Violet replied.
And then he appeared, out of nowhere, literally, as a rip opened on the street in the distance and Schism popped out. He hit the ground running.
Violet looked at him for a second. Schism. He must have slipped away from her parents. What bad luck that he had run right into their arms. Violet certainly had some aggression she was willing to misplace.
"Ready Dash?" She said.
"The Dash is always ready!" Dash said, as he zipped up next to his sister's starting to be quite shapely legs, though such a thing was completely lost on him, for very obvious reasons you would have to be an idiot not to realize.
"Then how come you wet your bed until you were seven?"
"HEY! No bringing up the potty training!" Dash griped, as the shimmering purple shield sprang up around him and his sister, her hands and feet locked into it, as Dash ran against the side and propelled the ball off the roof, with just enough impact so it crashed into the street and not all the way into the side of the opposite building. Schism stopped as Violet dispersed the shield and she and Dash struck combat poses.
"Oh joy. Now the lineage is going to hound me."
"You forget too quickly what happened last time if you think all we can do is dog you, Schism! Let the Dash give you a refresher course!" Dash quipped (not too well, but not every line could be a gem), and kicked in his speed, zipping past Schism before he could blink. Schism looked annoyed and turned around…just as Dash ran past him again and then ran past him AGAIN before Schism could even start turning around once more. As a result he wound up turning his back to Dash, and that was all Dash needed. Schism felt a quick jerk on his waist, and looked down to see that his belt, the one containing the proceeds from his robbery, was gone. It was now in Dash's hand, as he stopped thirty feet away from Schism and triumphantly held up his prize.
"You know what they say! A fool and his money are soon parted!" Dash taunted.
Schism chuckled.
"Yes, how pertinent." Schism replied, and waved a hand. Dash suddenly felt his arm go wonky, like he was getting goosebumps and the prickly feeling of a limb waking up at the same time, and he jerked his head up to see that somehow a warp had opened up and was now encasing his arm. The arm that was now sticking out of another hole in front of Schism, as the larger man snatched out his hand and yanked the belt free from Dash's weaker fingers before Dash could pull his arm free from the warp. Stunned, Dash performed that action, albeit half a second too late, staggering back as he looked at the closing tear. He didn't know what had happened: Schism could open warps but Dash hadn't stuck his hand through any…and then Dash finally noticed that Schism was dressing heavier then he normally did.
"Like my new powers? Now I can move warps when I open them. Like, say, over arms that are stuck in the air." Schism said, as he returned his money belt to his waist and cinched it up. Dash growled. He didn't like being shown up.
"Ok then Schism. Time to meet the new beating, same as the old beating!" Dash snapped, and flew at Schism again.
"I think not." Schism replied, as he snapped his fingers.
One of Dash's flaws that despite his speed, he tended to go in a straight line (after all, that was the quickest way between two objects, right?). And that was all Schism needed, as a small warp opened up on the concrete between Dash and Schism before the teen could cross the distance again. And due to Dash's aforementioned still present small size and short legs, he didn't have a very long stride.
So he stepped on the warp.
And as a result, tripped.
While going at roughly forty miles an hour.
"WAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Dash screamed as he flew through the air towards Schism, out of control. With a quick wave of his arm, Schism opened up another warp in front of him, and Dash flew into it.
"Dash!" Violet said: she had been standing there, not able to form plans as quickly as her brother, and as a result she'd been unprepared for Dash's tripping, and before she could carry out her intent to grab the flying Dash with a shield (which three years of training had allowed her to form at a distance), he was gone into the void.
Schism gestured behind himself, and Dash popped out of another warp. His suit was designed to protect against injury, but that didn't help much as Dash hit the street, skipped across the ground a few times and then slid to a stop several dozen feet away.
"Owwwww…my knee…" He groaned, as he rolled over and looked at his severely scraped kneecap.
"Be thankful that's all kid. I could have warped you in front of a wall, and you could have settled once and for all the debate between the irresistible force and the unmovable object." Schism said. The speed kid was down for now: he might have suffered more serious leg injuries then a scraped knee and be down for good. So Schism turned to his last target.
He wasn't surprised to find she wasn't there.
"Ah, still as tricky as ever young lady…" Schism said, his eyes slowly sliding back and forth. "But you know the expression, children shouldn't be heard, they should be SEEN!" Schism yelled, as he suddenly spun and kicked out. His foot connected with something solid, which was very surprising considering there should have been nothing there but air. Air that made a yelp, and then Violet reappeared, staggering back from the impact and clutching her shoulder. Schism smiled slightly.
"Like my new suit? Enhances my abilities sevenfold. Not to mention it includes a handy radar system." Schism said. Which was how he had known Elastigirl was going to punch him, if any of you were still wondering. Violet's eyes narrowed behind her mask. "Don't look so upset. You mess with the tiger, you get bit."
"Bite ME!" Violet yelled in a very unVioletlike way, but as mentioned, she was a tad bit upset about a few things, not to mention her hurting shoulder, as she formed a shield around her and prepared to charge into Schism.
A warp appeared near Schism, and he shoved his hand into it.
"Not my thing." He replied. Violet realized what he was doing and tried to react, but she couldn't know every possible move he could make, and hence was caught unaware when the warp opened up within her shield, behind her, and his arm reached out, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her backwards onto her rear, the sudden pain in her scalp breaking her concentration and causing her to lose her shield. She could take hellacious impacts ON the shield and not have it break her focus, but actual attacks on her needed considerably less force to interrupt her shield. Schism withdrew his hand, shaking off several strands of dark hair that clung to his fingers.
"Your brother speaks the truth of the past. In our last encounter, you two bested me. Though you stopped from humiliating me, and for that I am grateful." Schism said, and then his eyes darkened. "But my previous endeavor was still foiled by you too. I think, my dear, it is time for a little quid pro quo."
Elastigirl grunted/groaned through her teeth as she felt the building shift a little above her and add just an extra touch of weight. And considering that all in all she was just window dressing and her husband was carrying the true brunt of the burden, that probably didn't mean anything good or anything pleasant for him.
"Ugh. How do you Omega Classes in Strength hold these loads?" She growled.
"With great difficulty." Bob replied, his own teeth clenched.
"Really? You never gave any kind of impression that it was difficult for you!" Helen said. Her voice was not angry or spiteful, but rather possessing the tone of a female who was about to have a mild argument with her long time mate.
"Well then you…probably didn't understand the situation!" Bob shot back. Helen glared at Bob, and to an outsider, it might have seemed that the relationship these two had shared for so long was on rocky ground. But a properly enlightened individual would have seen through the prickly outside of the words Bob and Helen were exchanging to the true core of them. These two had been through far worse, and they knew it, and while their words might have had barbs, their nucleus was pure love, a love that would see them through any crisis. Love, after all, as a certain song went, could move mountains.
However, in this case, it couldn't move a wobbly building off their backs. But where love fails, that's where other things come through.
Bob was trying to blink sweat out of his eyes when he heard the voice, a faint sound that might have been 'Whoa!'. It sounded familiar, and as Bob opened his eyes, a new sound came to him: a constant scraping noise. To him, that meant only one thing.
"Man!" Came the voice again, and then Frozone dropped down to the street, his rapid placement of ice footing that he skated on bringing him around a building and down on the parallel of Bob and Helen, where he leapt off and landed lightly on the ground. "What on earth are you two doing, protesting gentrification?"
"Lucius, is that you?" Bob yelled, trying to look over his shoulder, a task that was harder then it sounded, due to the fact that he has his arms raised above him, not to mention he had very wide shoulders.
"No, it's Jules Winnfield!" The blue and white clad black Super shot back. "What happened?"
"Lucius!" Helen said, as she stuck her head around her husband's large frame. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching Jack-Jack!"
"Hey, you sent the general emergency signal! I figured you'd need me! Don't worry, Honey's watching him."
"What? That woman's disliked us ever since we dragged you back into superheroing…" Helen muttered under her breath. She did not dislike Honey Best, but there were certain qualities about the woman that were definitely dislikable (Lucius had told them, as a joke, how Honey almost didn't let Lucius out to fight the Omnidroid, but Helen had seen the supposed joke as a story of incredible self-importance and lack of common sense that a formal dinner was more important to that woman then a giant robot tearing apart the city), not to mention Jack-Jack, while more disciplined then he'd been as a baby, could still be quite a handful. But she'd mis-hit the button on her waist, she had to live with it. "Lucius, Violet and Dash are alone! Can you brace up this building with ice so we can go after them?"
"Brace? Well sure Helen…but…Bob, how much does the building weigh?"
"I don't know, let me just sally off and get my official Collasping Building Weight Test. A LOT LUCIUS!" Bob yelled in irritation.
"I can form a brace, but it'll need to be thick to hold up a building. Forming that kind of glacial density can be draining, I better get some water…"
"You need water?" Helen snapped, and then stood on one leg at the other elongated outward. Lucius' eyes followed it to a nearby fire hydrant, which Helen wrapped her ankle around and then spun open, causing a gush of water to explode out onto the street. "THERE! YOU'RE ALL WET!"
Lucius chuckled to himself.
"Quite a woman you got there Bob…" Lucius said, for perhaps the five-thousandth time in his life, as he hopped over so he was near the water jet. He cracked his knuckles. "Ok Drake…let me show you how it's done!"
And Frozone thrust out his hands and his freezing power shot from his palms, as Lucius aimed past the Parrs and began icing up the far wall.
Helen began to shiver a bit, and then noticed that Bob was looking at her…strangely. A quick glance downward made her realize just what he was looking at and how it related to the cold. Bob smiled mischievously, with just a hint of gentle lechery.
"Can't slap me with your hands occupied." He teased.
Helen brought her leg up and stopped it so it was just touching a very sensitive part of Bob, instead of outright kicking it. Bob suddenly didn't look so amused. Now Helen gave him a look, a look that said 'You may be naughty, but I'm outright bad.'
"What are you two doing, dancing?" Lucius commented as he continued to form ice under the broken part of the building. His power was starting to sap, and he took one hand away from the blast so he could form an ice cup and dip it down in the spraying fire hydrant, drinking the liquid quickly and returning his attention to the blast. The Parrs were now surrounded by ice.
"Ok guys, start moving out!" Lucius said. Helen pulled herself free immediately, while Bob began to shuffle back. Helen went over to Lucius and took the ice cup, filling it with water and putting it to Lucius's mouth so he could drink without lessening the intensity of his freeze blast. Within ten seconds Bob had reached the very edge of the building, and with a quick leap backwards he removed himself from the job of holding it up, as Lucius finished forming the ice block.
"Whew. Ok, I'm just going to rest for a bit, and then add some extra density, make sure it's real strong." Lucius said, as he knelt down a bit and took deep breaths.
"Go get the police after, see if you can get them to set something up more permanent then an ice cube! We're going after Schism!" Helen called over her shoulder as she and Bob took off after the villain.
"Oh what am I, the hired help? Geez…" Lucius said, and then paused for more air and another drink of water.
Helen may have been worried about her children, for good reason…but they were holding their own. Or at least surviving.
That fact didn't seem to bring any comfort to Violet, as she jerked her arm to the side and a ball of purple energy flew through the air in the distance, yanked through the air in a straight line as Violet attempted to ram it into Schism. As mentioned, Violet had learned to form and control the shields at a distance by now, and since she didn't want to go toe to toe with Schism and whatever fancy combat martial arts he could have been taught, she figured she'd try and hit him from afar.
Not that she was having any luck with that either, as Schism kept jumping and ducking through his portals, avoiding everything she did. Violet had two shields in play by now, bouncing them off the buildings of the street to try and get Schism, but even that wasn't enough. As a bead of sweat ran down her brow, she concentrated and a new shield orb appeared before her, and as Schism popped out of another portal she let it fly towards him…
And watched it vanish as he opened up a portal in front of him. Violet growled and tried to catch him off guard with the other two shields, but Schism twirled on his feet, almost like a ballet dancer (albeit not in a way so that the motion looked disturbing), and Violet's two other shields disappeared into portals as well. Violet gasped and her arms fell. This was tiring.
"Having fun?" Schism asked. "You want to stand aside and let me leave now, or do I have to resort to fisticuffs? I never was one for violence against women…"
Violet yelled and threw another shield orb at Schism, this one bigger then her.
Schism backflipped into another tear, disappearing as the orb flew past where he had been. He promptly popped up out of another portal that opened in the street as Violet dispelled her shield orb attack, too tired at the moment to pull it back towards her.
"You missed." Schism said.
And then Dash rammed into him, his shoulder catching the adult in the back of his knees and sending him flying heads over heels backwards, doing a 270 spin as he landed on his face with a thud. Dash zipped next to his sister, looking satisfied.
"Too bad for you I didn't." Dash said.
"Yes…I'd say it was…" Schism groaned, as he tried to get back up, shaking his head. "I would assume your leg is feeling better…"
"Better then you look." Dash retorted.
"They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder…" Schism said, as he got to his feet. "Well then, next round, shall we?"
"Next round? Man, what's wrong with you? Don't you know how supervillains are supposed to talk?" Dash mock-complained. "You're supposed to be proclaiming your invincibility, not blithely accepting what happened and moving on! Come on man, do it! They always do! It's always "You DARE fight the Purple Pantywaist!" or "You fools, don't you realize you stand no chance against the Human Windshield Wiper!" or…"
"Please keep talking." Schism said, as he fiddled with the arm part of his power enhancer.
"Certainly! I…WHOA!" Dash said, as he suddenly realized he was being set up and, not knowing how or where the attack would come from, did a general leap to the side, looking around. He looked back at Schism…who was still fiddling with his arm. Dash glanced at Violet…and then came to the realization. When Schism had fallen, he must have damaged something. He was open to attack.
"Go for it." Violet said, as if she was reading her brother's mind.
"Meep meep." Dash said, getting the sound almost perfectly, and then he shot at Schism…
"Like father, like son." Schism said.
Dash had no idea he'd fallen for the same ploy Bob had: one second he was running at Schism, and then he went into the portal Schism had opened and then he was running at Violet, as her eyes widened.
"AH!" They both screamed, and then the siblings collided, Dash's momentum sending them tumbling down the road.
"Heh. 'Is solace anywhere more comforting then in the arms of a sister?'" Schism quoted. "You tell me."
"Owwwwwwwwwwww…" Dash groaned, rubbing his head as he and his sister tried to get up from where they had stopped.
"You ok Dash?" Violet asked, as she too tried to get up.
"I think you kneed me in the bad place."
"Oh it's not like you had anything important there anyway." Violet retorted as she stood up.
"Hey! Ow…" Dash said as his head spiked with pain again.
"Stay there for the moment. I'm going to Jack Griffin his rear end." Violet said, and then she disappeared from view.
Schism was a tad bit perturbed. He had expected the children to be down by now. Stubborn little buggers took after their parents too much. Well, if they wanted to act like adults, they deserved adult consequences. Especially since his previous trick with Dash had a thread of truth behind it: his hitting the ground had knocked his radar system off-line and hence he couldn't find Violet the same way he had before. But he had an appropriate substitute maneuver.
"Little girl, please come back." Schism said, as Dash began to get to his feet. "No? Ok, then you need the proper motivation."
And Schism waved his hand.
Dash yelped as the ground opened up beneath him and he found himself falling…then stopping, as the warp contracted around him and clenched around his waist. His breath went out of him in a gasp.
"You care about your brother?" Schism asked. "Re-appear now, and I promise I'll let him go. Don't, and you'll find out that the precocious little bastard really IS the sum of his parts."
"Ah!" Dash freaked, as he realized that Schism would cut him in half if Violet didn't reappear. But he was stuck fast, and no amount of struggling was going to get him free.
"I am a man of my word young lady. For better or for worse. And this offer expires…"
Violet reappeared before Schism, quite close to him. Her eyes were hard.
"Good girl." Schism said. With a yelp, Dash found himself falling again, onto the very ground he had just tried to get off of, as Schism dumped him out of another portal. Schism didn't notice: he was busy looking at Violet, and part of him noted she was really becoming quite striking. Too bad they were enemies, he might have considered making a pass at her otherwise.
"Jack Griffin. The original Invisible Man. Not bad. Got any more?" Schism asked, as he prepared for a feint strike that would knock the girl out and finally let him get away.
"Yeah. The hand is quicker then the eye." Violet said, and then to Schism's shock she fell to her knees.
And then Schism realized why Violet was so close to him: to take up a good chunk of his field of vision. A field that was now filling with an outstretched fist as an arm extended out towards him.
"Oh." Schism said.
The punch slammed into him and sent him flying backwards…right into a pair of large arms. Arms Schism did not want to be in, as he realized where he was.
"How're you?" Bob asked, his voice filled with toxic sarcasm, and then he began to squeeze, trying not to enjoy the feeling of Schism's equipment being crushed in his grip, and not wholly succeeded.
"AH BLAST!" Schism cursed, and then Bob found himself falling again as Schism managed to open up a portal underneath them. Helen finished withdrawing her arm from the punch as she checked on Dash (who looked ok), and then two more portals opened, one dumping Bob out and the other dumping Schism out. Schism didn't land so well this time: instead of a graceful foot touchdown he fell chest first onto the ground.
"Dammit…" Schism cursed, standing up as his equipment sparked from where it was cracked due to Bob's bearhug. Helen looked at her son, who looked back at her as if he okaying whatever she had planned. Helen took another few seconds to think it over then grabbed her son and used several large steps and swings to get on Schism's backside before he realized what had happened. With Bob and Violet in front of him, that left the villain surrounded.
"Blast. How unfortunate…" Schism said, as he looked around at his plight.
"Just give up Tremaine. We won't beat you up. Much." Bob said. The bald man looked wryly at Bob.
"No…I don't think so. I think instead, I'll see just what this suit can REALLY do!"
And Schism thrust out his arms, and even as more sparks exploded from the apparatus, another portal appeared before him. Schism growled as the portal grew bigger, and Bob was suddenly away of a slight tugging sensation. With a start, he realized it was suction.
"I'm not…wholly sure…where this will put you, but it'll be far away enough for me to take my leave!" Schism snapped. And he meant it: once he did this portal, both his suit and his body were going to be exhausted. But the Incredibles would (hopefully) be across town by then. Even the speed kid wouldn't be able to make his way back to this street before Schism could disappear.
"Come on Dash! We can take him!" Helen said, briefly forgetting her motherly fears as she slipped into her old Super professionalism on how to deal with villains, looking upon Dash as a comrade rather then her son.
"No wait Mom. He says he has a radar system. For all we know if we attack him he could turn around and bring the warp with him and we could leap right into it." Dash said, himself showing a strange professionalism rather then his usual run in and let the cards fall where they may devil may care thinking. And unfortunately not realizing that the radar system was now broken.
"Radar? No wonder he knew I was going to punch him back at the bank. Ok then…let's go back with your father, in case he needs something to hold on to." Helen said, as she picked up Dash and carefully used the buildings to once again scoot around Schism and his ever-growing warp. The suction was increasing, to the point where Bob and Violet were having some difficulty standing. Violet had tried throwing a shield orb to stop the forming of the rip, but it had just vanished into the portal. And all of Bob's offenses were close up, so at the moment he couldn't do anything.
"Ok, what do we do?" Helen asked when she was back with her family.
"Suction's not TOO strong. I say we stand here and wait till he burns out, then take him." Bob replied.
"Sounds good to me." Helen said, as she braced herself and her family via her powers, just in case the suction surged.
That didn't look to be happening: in fact the opposite seemed true, as the warp flickered a bit and the suction briefly weakened before returning to its previous level of power, which wasn't that much: small bits of debris were being sucked in but that was about it, and from the growling, semi-snarling noises Schism was making, this clearly wasn't what he was expecting or wanting. Whatever Bob had done to his suit, it kept him from fully bringing his 'final warp' to bear.
Schism wasn't quitting though, as he continued to try and power up the portal. But it wasn't happening, and Bob knew it. The suction was already starting to weaken again, as the portal began to shrink. Schism was bottoming out.
"Ok Dash, get ready." Bob said, as he gestured to his wife. She let her son go and he took a few steps forward, getting ready but not running in yet. "He'll be burning out soon. When he does, set him up, we'll knock him down."
"The Dash has got it." Dash said, as he took another step forward. Try and crush him with a portal, would he, he'd show him…
And then a loud bang suddenly sounded in Dash's ears. He jumped, wondering if he'd been shot at…
And then it all went to hell.
As Schism's portal suddenly surged back, widening back up within a second. That wasn't the bad thing.
The bad thing was the suction surged with it, and then beyond it, as if Schism had somehow turned the dial up from 2 or 3 all the way to 11, as a certain movie might say. The increase was so sudden and so great even Dash couldn't react in time: one moment his hair was lightly blowing from the suction and the next his feet were being yanked out from under him as he was pulled towards the portal.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed.
And then the hand grabbed him, accompanied by the end of the panicked scream Helen had made at the same time Dash had screamed. Dash yelled again as the portal yanked at him, trying to draw him in, desperately clinging to his mother's arm as he tried to avoid the gaping maw.
"What the hell! WHAT THE HELL!" Schism was screaming, as if even he didn't know what had happened. The white energy within the portal was changing, the peaceful power twisting into itself as it suddenly was stained red, and the suction increased even more. Violet found her own feet being yanked from the ground, and she scrambled to increase her grip on her father, as Bob realized that if he didn't do something quickly they'd all be pulled in, and he stomped his feet and dug into the pavement as Helen tried to increase her own brace and hang onto her son.
"SCHISM! STOP IT! STOP!" Bob yelled.
"I CAN'T!" Schism yelled back, though he was clearly trying. For some reason he himself was not affected by the pull of the portal, perhaps because despite the fact it had seemingly gone beyond his control, he had still created it. "What the hell is this! This…arggggghhhhhhhh!" Schism yelled, as his outfit let loose a fresh shower of sparks.
And Bob heard noises behind him, and turned to see what they were. His eyes widened.
Debris began pelting him, as everything that wasn't nailed down began to be drawn into the portal. A garbage can slammed against his back, and Violet was nearly brained by a flowerpot yanked down from a balcony. And at the end of his wife's outstretched his son was still yelling in fear, and his wife was still desperately trying to hold on.
"This isn't…my…!" Schism cursed.
Violet adjusted her position and reached out with an arm herself, trying to help her mother get her brother, maybe she could grab him with a shield and pull him in…
And then a low metallic moan sounded behind Bob, and he turned to see the car flying at him.
How he dodged it, he didn't know. But the drastic movement screwed everything up, weakening the brace he formed with his wife, and even as the car flew past him and into the now crimson-black portal, he saw the whiplash from the movement travel down Helen's arm…
"No." He whispered.
And hit Dash.
And his son lost his grip.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, a scream echoed in Helen as she shrieked in pure horror, as she tried to extend her arm more, but she was too late as Dash tumbled into the portal and vanished within its folds.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Helen howled, in the way only mothers could.
And whatever had decided to inflict this fate upon her family, it wasn't done yet.
As Bob stumbled a bit more, trying to keep his balance…and Violet, her grip previously weakened by taking one arm away from it to try and form shields, slipped away as well, pulled by the unrelenting power of the tear, her eyes going wide with surprise and fear. Helen didn't even get to let out another scream as Violet flew past her arm, and even as a shield of power appeared around Violet, a last ditch hope that doing that might somehow prove effective, she disappeared in the portal after her brother.
Bob was numb with shock, unable at the moment to decide what to do…
But the same couldn't be said with Helen, as she suddenly untangled herself from her brace and flew out towards the portal, going after her children, disappearing before Bob knew what was happening. He blinked…and then the entirety of the situation hit him.
The decision was instant and the only one he could make, as he ran towards the portal and leapt into it.
"HOLY…!" Lucius cursed as he slid on an ice platform, not knowing what was going on. He'd come over the building edge, suddenly been aware of a powerful pull…and then he'd crested over the edge to see Bob running towards a portal.
"BOB!" He yelled, but it was too late, as Mr. Incredible jumped into the portal after his family.
And then Lucius realized that whatever had happened to his best friend might soon be happening to him, as the portal began to pull him forward. Lucius said a bad word and tried to resist, but ice isn't exactly the best thing to be on when something is trying to suck you in. For a moment, Frozone wished his name was Sandpaper.
And then there was another loud bang.
And the portal disappeared, like someone had flicked a switch. One moment full bore, the next nothing.
As a surge of red energy flowed back to Schism and smashed into his body like a wrecking ball. Schism staggered back, and then wordlessly fell forward onto his face.
For a moment, silence.
Back on track, Frozone slid over to where Schism lay.
"What the hell what the hell what the hell…" He said, as he looked down at the villain, as if Schism could give him answers. It was clear that none would be coming from the possible former Delta Force member though: his eyes were wide open and completely blank. As Lucius watched, blood began leaking from Schism's nose and mouth.
Frozone was vaguely aware of sirens, that the police must have taken the silence as a cue and started moving in, and he noted that he had to get Schism medical help and…and…
What had happened?
"Bob?" Lucius said, as he looked around the street, as if saying the name would magically make the man appear.
No such luck.
That didn't stop Frozone from continuing to look around the empty, wreckage strewed streets. But he, and the fallen Schism, were the only ones there.
The Incredibles were gone.
To Be Continued