Ultraviolet

Chapter 7

Righteous Fury

"Well, I'll give you some privacy to think about it."

Off-white panels rose from the floor several feet away, snapping in place and enclosing a square area of dimensions about three metres. A door popped open from one of its sides, revealing a sort of changing room, complete with a full-length mirror.

"Go ahead, step right in."

The Super-suit slid on some invisible mechanism into the changing room, as though beckoning for Violet to join it. She had half a mind to just run in and change into her new Super-suit, but the other half that pulled her back merely wanted to go home for a nice long rest. "But you no longer have a home for a nice long rest, Violet… Accept that," she thought bitterly. Her legs shuffled forward as though they had a will of their own, guiding her into the changing room. The door clicked shut automatically, sealing her from the rest of the world.

"Well Vi, it all comes down to this," she muttered to herself, taking a step towards the suit. She reached for her headband, usually the first part of the suit she removes, and pulled it away from her hair, as a mass of hair fell from its place; covering most parts of her face. Her fingers wrapped firmly around the smooth plastic, she questioned herself silently, "Are you ready for this, Violet?"

Missiles were closing in on the plane. Violet knew that her powers were needed, but her force field just wasn't big enough to cover them. Time was running out… She thought it was all over…

Almost involuntarily, as though seized by some unknown force of nature, her fingers released their hold on the headband; it spun for a second before falling flat to the ground.

The force field rolled on, propelled forward by Dash's momentum. Slowing down momentarily as her parents were absorbed within the sphere, adding to the weight… The force field dissolved, the Incredibles were ready as the Velocipods circled around them… It was their first mission as a family…

Her mind was set.

"No."

"No what?" Violet could sense a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

"I won't do it." She paused for a moment, as though letting the truth sink in, before continuing. "My family has faith in me."

"Well… if that's your choice…"

Gears whirled into motion under Violet's feet, causing the walls around her to sink back underground. She felt a smile spreading across her face as she willed herself to believe that she made the right choice. Anyway, she thought to herself, if you have an ounce of regret, you could always come back and…

A hole opened up under the suit, retracting the suit into the subterranean cavern below, lowering it out of sight using a metallic arm located under the suit. It wasn't the only thing going down, though. Her headband tipped over the edge of the hole, plunging into the compacted sand underneath.

Violet uttered a word she usually didn't dare use, upset that the headband, a part of her Super-suit, was now lost. In reflex, she tried to sweep her glossy black hair back, tucking them behind her ears for a second before they slid back over her eyes. She threw up her hands in exasperation. "Why won't they stay in one place?"

Resigned to her fate, she turned back and looked at the now-empty room, where her job offer once stood. She questioned her own judgement, thinking of how cool it must be to have no school and being able to develop their powers to their maximum potential. "Just don't regret it later, Vi."

The next exit slid open noisily, signalling for her to move to the next room. Her heels struck the floor in a rhythmic beat as she walked, almost absent-mindedly, towards the next room. You're of no use to them now, she thought as she detected in her surroundings.

Maybe they'll kill you instead.

She shook her head; sending tons of hair in every direction and making her hair look more tousled than it already was. Forget it, she thought, no point thinking about it… Violet stamped the ground in front of her, sending a pile of sand flying. Violet stopped in her tracks. Sand, in a place like this? The compacted sand under her feet stretched out for several thousand feet in each direction. Her eyes fell on lush green vegetation bordering the tan-coloured sand around her. It was Nomanisan, one of the nightmares she was trying to forget.

A Velocipod raced out the trees to her right, a confirmation to Violet's gut feelings. Within a flash she was invisible, taking one long look at the pilot as the Velocipod circled the area around her; it was merely a robot suited up like one of Syndrome's minions, its chrome covering reflecting light from whatever florescent light was replacing the sun above them. The blank eyes of the bionic pilot shone red as it searched the area where Violet was, but made no attempt to attack her. Its eyes were probably infrared radiation detectors, more than capable of tracking her down. In fact, it was staring right at her, so why isn't it attacking?

Maybe it was the time she had spent in this place, seemingly infecting her with some sort of strange logic. Deep within her head she realised the answer: Though it was well within his powers to create a robot to track her down, he just wanted a robot which was just like a human, creating a real simulation without sacrificing human specimens. With a triumphant smirk, Violet surveyed her surroundings, formulating a plan to take down the flying machine.

Unfortunately for her, this 'human' robot had a limit to its patience too. Pushing several buttons in quick succession, the Velocipod literally spun into action, blades flashing, as it charged towards where it last saw Violet. Violet's reflexes took over as she did a cartwheel to her right, sending copious amounts of sand in all directions.

Violet rolled to her feet, ending in a crouched position as the sand settled around her invisible body. She turned her head behind her, catching sight of the Velocipod as it whirled around the edge of the trees and roared towards her new position. Great, now it knows where I am, Violet thought as she rolled her eyes. She needed to take a chance. If it failed… she didn't want to think what would happen if it failed. Her eyes focused on the Velocipod roaring towards her, its blades eager to rip through her body. Violet's eyes narrowed as she timed herself. Five… four… three… two…

"NOW!" She shouted as she cast a force field over herself, closing her eyes and praying silently for her safely. There was a slight crunching sound as the edge of the Velocipod come into contact with Violet's force field, followed by a loud screech of fast-moving metal against sand which came to a halt seconds later. It was only then Violet dared to open her eyes to look at the carnage behind her. The Velocipod lay with the open cockpit facing down, tilted slightly to the side, spewing out black smoke from its exposed underside.

"I… I did that? All by myself?" Violet wondered aloud as her eyes dilated in pure bewilderment as she stared at the crashed Velocipod. It was something that Violet could never expect to defeat alone… yet there it lay destroyed in front of her. A strange sense of achievement washed over her, having accomplished what she thought was impossible. "So it was inside you all along," she whispered to herself. Violet strode towards the wrecked Velocipod, as awe was quickly replaced with exultance.

Violet glanced down at a piece of debris as her feet; it was the head of the robot pilot, its expressionless eyes drilling holes deep into Violet. "Oh my…" Violet murmured as she backed away, her hands covering her mouth in shock. She would have killed another human being if this had been a real fight. "You could have killed a human being just now. It doesn't make it right just because it wasn't a real human." The last vestiges of any positive feelings died off.

A flash of black streaked past Violet, interrupting her thoughts. Violet could see fingers wrapped round the mechanical head, pulling it up from the sand. Without warning, it retracted back to its owner, causing Violet to roll to her right. She knew, in an instant, the only person capable of doing that. "Mom!" She shouted as she whirled around.

Facing her was someone that was looked so much like her mother, and yet was different in a million ways. It was another robot, clad in her mother's Super-suit. Her face consisted of chrome plates shaped exactly like her mother; a bright red flare embedded in a black sphere for eyes and the same auburn hair. Its hand whipped back, still clutching the head of its brethren, before swinging it back around and releasing it towards Violet. It covered the few hundred metres between them in a matter of seconds.

Violet managed a force field around her in the last possible second, holding her hands out front in reflex as the projectile closed in on her. She stifled the urge to scream, praying that her force field could withstand the impact.

It was maybe three inches from hitting her before a blaze of red intercepted it in mid-air. Violet could only catch its trail as it came to a halt beside the robotic Elastigirl, pausing to strike a pose for dramatic effect.

"Dash?"

"Heads up, Vi!" The mechanical voice was too squeaky for Dash, but Violet heeded the advice anyway, as her instinct took over, compelling her to jump to her right and casting a semi-spherical force field over her body. A tree crashed onto the spot where she was standing a moment ago. It didn't take long for Violet to figure out who did it. "Dad…"

The trio stood several metres away, getting into their combat positions, as though taunting Violet to attack them. For a moment, Violet considered doing just that, to get them back for mocking her family members' powers. After all, they're just robots with their powers… Violet's thought trailed off as she caught sight of the decapitated robot still in the cockpit of the Velocipod. Do I have to do that to them too?

"You have to, Violet. It's the only way you're getting out of here. After all, they're just robots…" Violet muttered to herself, having no one else to speak to. The only question was how to fight off her whole family…

They moved into position, circling around Violet, attempting to surround her.

Violet called out to them, trailing their movements with her eyes as they went. "I will defeat you if I have to."

Trivia: I really flipped a coin to decide if Violet would turn to the Specialists'… and no, the results weren't fake. I wanted to write an alternate to this, titled 'Dark Fury', which may be done and attached to the back of this story.

The headband thing, though insignificant, represented the darker side of Violet unleashed. She'll be in control of her feelings after she gets back her headband.