Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 1:22 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.
Violet hung her head in despair. It never felt good to be accused of a crime you didn't commit. Even though she was wearing her super suit, she felt like a number and not a hero. But on a positive note, she had always wondered what it was like behind bars. Now she knew. She was glad it was just the local lockup at the police station and not real prison. And she took some comfort in having a cellmate. He was huddled in the corner with a blanket draped over him. At first, Violet thought that he was a bean bag chair or something.
"So," she said, desperate to start a conversation, "what are you in for?"
"Oh, nothing," he said, "I'm just waiting for a friend. You?"
"I was accused of robbing a bank, but I'm innocent."
"Ain't that what they all say?"
"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it. I was in France when it happened. But the public doesn't care. They've all turned on me for some reason."
"You wouldn't happen to be one o' them superheroes, would you?" asked the stranger.
"Yeah, I am, why?"
"Then you're the friend I'm waiting for!"
Violet was taken aback. But everything became clear when the man whipped off his blanket and stood up. With the green and tan suit, the black hair, the Dash-like face, that F-B logo, Violet recognized him right away.
"Futureboy!" she wailed. She gripped her time-travelling great nephew in a large bear hug. "So, what are you doing here?"
"I figured you could use some comfort. Oh, and I wanted to give you a message from the future."
"What?"
Futureboy looked nervous. "I can't go into detail, but I can say this. You know Loren Kriznek?"
"What about him?"
"You're going to come into contact with him soon. He's on your side now, so whatever he says, whatever he asks you to believe, believe him!"
"Why? The man tried to kill my brother and me! Why should I trust him?"
"Because he's your only chance. I can't say what will happen if you don't trust him, but I can say that you won't like it. You're just going to have to go with me on this, Aunt Violet."
"Okay, I believe you." But the truth was, Violet was still skeptical. She wasn't even one hundred percent sure he was even her relative. But the way she figured it, if she took this on faith and found out later that he was lying, she could kill him then.
"Oh, hey, you never did tell me your real name," Violet observed.
"I haven't? Huh, I thought for sure I would have. My name is Orlando Cunningham."
"Cunningham? Why not Parr?"
"My mother's maiden name was Parr. She was, no wait, is, no, will be Dash's daughter. She won't have any powers, so don't be surprised by that. Shh, do you hear that?"
It was the sound of footsteps. Futureboy ducked back into the corner, pulling the blanket over him again. Violet poked her head out of her cell as far as it would go and looked at who it was.
"Hey, Orlando, it's okay, it's just the rest of the team."
Sure enough, it was. Orlando came out of hiding and introduced himself to the rest of the team, or as he called them, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle José and Cousin Ashley. Dash and Kim, who had yet to meet Orlando, were surprised to say the least.
"We came as soon as we saw you get hauled off," said Ashley.
"Then what took you so long?" asked Violet.
"First, we had an argument about who should drive," said Kim. "I wanted to drive, but Dash insisted he was better at it, and…"
"This went on for about a minute or two," Dash continued, "when we realized that you still have the keys. So, we had to…"
"You didn't hot wire the Alphamobile, did you?"
"NO! Of course not! Funny story, true story, um, the car came with an emergency backup voice activated lock system! Yeah, that's it, a voice lock!"
Violet didn't change expressions. "You hot wired the car, didn't you?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Guys!" Violet whined.
"We're sorry, but we had to!" said Ashley. "I don't know what they have against you, but we're going to clear your name, even if it's the last thing we do!"
"Whoa, Ashley," said Kim, "let's take it down a notch, okay? We're just going to have a talk with the sheriff, not bag a cheetah and lug it across Kenya!"
"Although that would be pretty cool," said Dash.
"C'mon, guys, focus," said Violet; "you were saying something about getting me out of here?"
"Oh, yeah, right." And the team departed.
Violet sighed. "I can't believe I'm placing my freedom in the hands of those screw-ups. I'm doomed."
"No, you're not, Aunt Violet," said Futureboy. "You'll get out, and you'll win this, if you remember what I said."
"Huh? Oh, right, believe the Wicked Wichard, got it."
"Great." At that moment the two of them heard a beeping, like a watch's alarm. Violet checked hers, but the signal wasn't flashing. "Oh, it's mine," said Orlando.
He pulled out a futuristic-looking piece of paper (or rather, something paper-like in nature) and groaned. "Sorry, Aunt Vi, but I have to go. You would not believe how many do-gooder chrononauts try to assassinate Hitler every week."
"Wait. Wouldn't Hitler's assassination be a good thing?"
"Theoretically, yes, but that's not my job. My job is to preserve history as you and I know it. So, I have to…"
"Say no more, go save history one evil dictator at a time," Violet joked.
Futureboy laughed. "Thanks for understanding. Hey, I'll see you around, okay? Okay, goodbye."
Orlando placed his hands against the cell wall. Then his whole body started to vibrate. Violet could see him break out in a sweat. His face was flush. Suddenly, sparks of electricity flew from his body. Then there was a burst of flames. Violet jumped back in surprise. When the flames dissipated, Futureboy was gone. If there was any doubt in Violet's mind as to whether or not Orlando was for real, it was gone now.
Of course, the elaborate warp sequence made a lot of noise, which got the attention of the guard.
"All right, what's going on here?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing," said Violet.
"Don't give me that, Python." And then he saw that Futureboy wasn't there. "There was a kid in your cell a minute ago. I saw him! Where did he go, and what was that loud noise?"
"Oh, the kid? Yeah, he's my great nephew from the future, and he just went back in time to go prevent Hitler's assassination."
At this, the guard started to laugh. "Good one, Python!" Then he went on about his business.
Violet just smiled. The best way to lie…she thought.
(A/N: Okay, just a heads-up, I'm going to be out of the picture for a while. I have a lot of schoolwork I need to do. And I am planning a story all about Futureboy, so be looking for that sometime in the future forgive the pun. So until next time…)