(I am in love with my Bowling for Soup cd!)… (and my pillow)… (and pop-tarts, of course)
Yello, folksies! What's happenin'? Who's not dead? I NEVER HAVE TO TAKE GYM AGAIN! (jumps around room) Or Driver's Ed for that matter. Moving on.
Helen tapped her fingers on the steering wheel of the car as she and Vi and their costume-loaded car waited for Edna's gate to open for them to leave. When I say 'costume-loaded car', I mean there wasn't even enough room for Helen and Vi in there, and yet they'd managed to get in the car.
"Well," Violet said when the gate opened and Helen pulled forward to look for oncoming traffic. "That was… interesting."
"Get used to it," Helen said. She was about to turn left when-
Zoom! There goes Dash, giggling his heart out, and-
Zam! There goes Dean in a supercar with Jack-Jack in the back, screaming out the window, "You are SO not gonna beat my car!"
"I guess we'll be turning right," Helen said through gritted teeth, and she pulled onto the road.
Meanwhile, Dash was really flooring it… that expression doesn't really work in this situation, does it?… Whatever, he was going insanely fast. And right when he reached the agreed finish- an abandoned lot of sorts across the street from a meadow- SCREEEEEEECH! Dash laughed his head off as he watched Dean go by, the brakes on his supercar falling short of Dash's own feet.
Then he heard something behind him. Dash turned around still chuckling to himself, but when he saw the 'something' his face dropped in horror. It was one of the Underminer's Robot Rats. Only this one seemed bigger than he remembered.
The metal rodent snarled down at him, its red eyes flashing angrily, and Dash suddenly had the wild thought that the thing above him was alive. It took a step towards him, shaking the ground with its weight.
Dash didn't dare take his eyes off it. He began to walk backwards as quickly as he could while the creature advanced.
"N-nice, big rat. Oh boy…" he said as he continued to backpedal. The rat was picking up pace, and every step it took challenged Dash's balance.
The rat whirled around, spinning its tail so that it took Dash's feet out from under him. Dash fell and started to scramble away as quickly as he could. Finally he was able to take his eyes off the Robot Rat and he ran as quickly as he could across the street. However, he watched in terror as a large shadow passed over him… and the Rat landed just ahead of Dash.
The Rat bared its teeth at him and made a sound that resembled someone screaming angrily.
What do I do? Dash raged in his head, again entranced by the robot, stuck walking backwards. What is it even doing here? Where's Violet when you need her? This is all her fault!
The rat moved to jump on top of Dash, but the boy darted out of the way, stopping about ten yards away to look at the angry creature. Unfortunately, ten yards wasn't that great of a distance for the rat, and he slashed out with its teeth, only just missing Dash as he again darted away.
I can't just leave it! he thought, frantically searching his head for a way out of this situation.
Well, at this point, the rat was unhappy. Although the human was not wearing a suit, the chemical makeup confirmed it as a super, therefore one of the Incredibles. In it's frustration, if a robot can feel frustration, the rat flat out started to run at the boy. Dash seemed to remember himself, and he ran under the metal beast towards the empty lot again. He was going to try out that pattern Dad suggestion during training the other day…
But he didn't see the ditch.
"Whoa!" Dash yelled as he fell into the ditch. He rolled painfully to the bottom and hit his head against a stone lodged in one of the sides of the ditch. He rubbed the spot with his hand. Then a shadow fell over him, and the eleven-year-old looked up. "Uh oh."
At that moment, Helen and Vi were driving down the highway, arguing over which radio station to listen to. Helen wanted to listen to James Taylor on the soft rock station, and Violet wanted to listen to some normal rock'n'roll.
"Mom, James Taylor? C'mon."
"What? He's good!"
"James Taylor is for depressed middle-aged women who haven't got a life of their own." Violet pushed a button on the radio. It was No Doubt. "See, now this isn't bad."
Helen hit a different button, and James Taylor was back in Mexico.
Vi hit No Doubt.
James Taylor.
No Doubt.
James Taylor.
No Doubt.
James.
No.
James.
No.
Yes.
Hey wait a second…
The rat started scratch into the ditch and Dash rolled out of the way of the sharp steel claws. Left, right, right, scrunch up, left, duck, get on your feet already! Dash felt like this was some sick, screwed up cat-and-mouse game. He knew he'd never keep this up forever. Where was Dean? Would anyone help him at all!
Then it stopped. Dash opened his eyes and took his arms out of the protective position around his head. He stood up and looked up the sides of the ditch. Nothing there…
"What!"
His question was quickly answered. Suddenly, the rat was there again, standing triumphantly above the ditch, glaring down at Dash… with a tree in his mouth.
Dash gasped and started to scramble up the opposite side of the ditch as the tree came crashing down where he'd been standing. "Ow!" he cried, and looked back. One of his legs was trapped beneath the tree. He saw a drop of blood roll down his leg.
"Mom, please, turn it off!" Violet begged through the assortment of clothes, both hands over her ears. Helen had resorted to taping the James Taylor button down.
"I'm driving, so I get to choose the radio station. I think that's fair."
"It's not fair when someone dies!"
"Oh you're exaggerating."
Violet started to pretend she was choking to death. Helen watched her daughter with an amused smile.
Violet suddenly sat up straight. "MOM, THAT'S A TRUCK!"
"Whoa!" Helen shouted as she returned the car to the correct lane.
Dash looked up pitifully at the Robot Rat. Trapped. The rat reached down and clawed at Dash again. The boy curled up over the tree as he felt the dirt he'd been laying being scratched out of place. When he leaned back, the tree moved. He heard a sort of popping crunch, and a searing pain even greater than what he'd already felt move up his leg. "AAAHH!" he cried, reaching for his legs with his hands. Gotta pull it out!
"How're things with you and Tony, Vi?"
"Fine…"
"You have seen him since Friday, right?"
"Yeah."
Dash started to pull on his leg frantically, each pull sending pain through his entire body. Again, he ducked as the rat took aim and started to claw at him. A claw grazed his back, and Dash cried out in pain. He oddly remembered something his mother had said to him.
These guys… aren't like those guys. They will kill you if they get the chance. Do not give them that chance.
"Vi, is something wrong?"
"No," Violet said. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, as soon as we changed the subject to Tony, you started to act rather sullen. Anything you wanna tell me?"
Dash was exhausted, and his leg felt like someone was sticking red-hot iron into it. He just wanted to go to sleep. He looked up fearfully at the rat. It seemed to smile.
"Vi, is there something wrong between you and Tony?"
"Mom, look out!"
The car smashed into the side of one of the Underminer's Robot Rats, knocking the metal creature over.
Dash had to blink a few times to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light. No, the rat had definitely just been swept away by something.
Violet and Helen got out of the car, perplexed by what they saw. Violet stared down at the rat's face. "What the…"
The rat moved its face to glare at Vi, only a few feet away, and it snarled, again making a terrible screaming noise. Violet screamed too.
"Violet!" Helen cried, elasti-grabbing her daughter away from the razor sharp teeth. Good timing too, because if she'd been there a second longer, she would've been pulverized when Dean's supercar crashed into the fallen rodent's head.
"Well, shoot!" Dean exclaimed to Jack-Jack. "Now I have to remake the hood! C'mon, let's find your brother." He got outta the car with the baby.
"Oh! Hey, Mrs. Inc! Uh… did you get a hood ornament while you were out?" Dean asked.
"Very funny."
"Help!" Dash yelled from the ditch. The others jogged over towards Dash's voice.
Helen gasped. "Dash!"
"Mom, help me outta here!"
"How'd you get stuck under a tree?" Violet shouted; she has a zillion questions running through her head, and she asks the most ridiculous one. Ever had one of those moments?
"Shut up!"
"Do not shout at each other," Helen scolded as she elasti-jumped down next to her son. The ditch was deeper than it looked. She kneeled next to Dash. "Hold on, sweetie." She looked over the situation, keeping remarkably cool.
Violet looked over at the 'dead' rat. If only I'd been here… she thought, blaming herself although she didn't realize she was. Dean and Helen were feeling the same way.
"Dean!" Helen shouted up.
"Yeah, Helen?"
"Go get my cell phone, we need Bob!"
"Aye aye, Cap'n," Dean yelled back complete with salute as he -with Jack-Jack- ran over to the rental car. Thankfully, this one must have had a better frame work than the previous ones, and wasn't terribly damaged. He returned to the ditch carrying the phone. (and Jack-Jack)
WHAMO! You know, I wasn't exactly planning on doing that. All well. This thing's called 'Tribulations' for a reason, I guess.
P.S. Wow, almost 60 reviews. I should be getting you guys chocolate instead of pop-tarts
Review…?