The Incredibles

All's Fair in Love and Glory

Chapter Five: Facing the Consequences

The jet Helen was controlling sped sleekly through the air, small enough to dart into clouds and disappear. This would shield it from a casual, distant viewer, but it would still not escape radar. Helen had no intention of asking for permission to land after learning the consequences of doing so before, but knew she would still be detected.

Helen sighed. She could try ducking into the wake of a guard's plane – many were out today, oddly – but then they would see her. And, to make things worse, staying where she was and circling would also attract attention.

She was trapped.

Despite assisting Syndrome, Helen had to admit Mirage wasn't an enemy. She had called, offered hospitality… And yet, showing up uninvited still seemed unwise. Perhaps dangerous.

While Mirage had extended an invitation, the island still seemed less than welcoming. She suddenly how immature her plan had been – what grown woman in her right mind would desert her children to fly to a faraway island to spy on someone? It had been a ridiculous idea, and she realized she should turn back before she was seen… but the jet's falling gas meter disagreed with her.

"Oh crap," she breathed.

Hadn't Snug filled it up before hr departure? She… she'd just assumed that he would have, and hadn't even bothered to check. She moaned and looked back at the horizon. It appeared as though the guards were having a field day, doing barrel rolls and dive bombs and seeming to have a great time. Maybe she could just sneak by – just another plane, in the radar's eye; perhaps a guard landing to get a snack…

Nah. She couldn't get away with it.

She threw the throttle forward. There was no time to change her mind now. Ahead, there was but a narrow landing strip – probably for the little hovercraft things the guards piloted. If she could just coax a little more from the jet…

"Come on!" she shrieked, at the jet.

The jet's landing gear thudded in protest as it made contact. Helen breathed a sigh of relief, steering the jet as its momentum carried it into the hangar. She jumped out and filled it with a tank of gas she found nearby. Her eyes glazed over – she realized she had no explanation for being here. Now that she had landed, and certainly been seen, she had little time to think though. She had to find Mirage and apologize for coming (though apologizing would be difficult) – before someone found her.

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"Oh, Mr. Incredible, it's been too long," Mirage cooed, leaning forward and lacing her fingers delicately through his. A jolt of electricity traveled up her spine as she did so. His face betrayed no emotion.

"It has," he agreed, unmoving.

"So, what have you been doing these past few months?" she asked, hastily withdrawing her hand.

Bob shrugged.

"You know… stuff."

Mirage nodded, pretending to… know.

"Ah. Stuff."

"Mirage, let me just say that I'm honored that you invited me back to the island, but I'm really not comfortable—"

She immediately shot backwards against the wall of the seat. "I understand."

"No," Bob laughed, putting her at ease. "I mean, I lied to Helen about coming here," he admitted. "She doesn't know about any of this. She thinks that I'm at work."

"Oh, but you are!" Mirage insisted, smiling encouragingly. She was, to be honest, slightly shocked at both his last statement and his having not told Helen of his plans. "You're back in your old room. I want you to meet me in the conference room at nine o'clock. We have a meeting scheduled, all right?"

Bob nodded, through a little confused.

"Isn't that what you came for, Mr. Incredible?" Mirage asked, innocently. "Work?" She paused. "Nine o'clock."

"Nine o'clock," he repeated.

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Dash paced across the room while he considered the consequences of his truancy. Who knew? Maybe Matt would finally turn in his embarrassingly late project, and redeem himself after Dash's endless taunts. Perhaps Bryce would get his change to be class clown in Dash's absence… would the spot still be there upon his return? And oh, God forbid that some other wise guy would dare to ask Carissa to be their girlfriend?! A cold fear ran through him.

Violet poked her head in. "You okay in here?" she asked, skeptical.

Dash hesitated. She was a girl. She could help him figure out how to win Carissa over. But he'd pay for her help dearly – endless teasing, countless favors. So he kept his mouth shut.

"Helloooo…. Dash…."

"What?" he spun around anxiously. "Oh – sure."

"Uh-huh." She looked him over. Suspiciously.

"I said I'm fine!" he yelled.

A wail rose from the other end of the house.

"Nice job," Violet hissed. "Now you've woken Jack-Jack."

"I'll get the tool kit," Dash sighed resignedly.

Violet went to go check on the baby.

"What is it? Fire? Lead? Demon child? Shapeshifting? Teleportation?" Dash called out.

"Code red," Violet sighed, grabbing the fire extinguisher from their "tool kit". It contained all the materials and methods needed to return Jack-Jack to normal from his "special state."

"You coulda just said 'fire'," Dash grumbled.

"Whatever."

"This is boring," he whined. "Can't we just go to school?"

Violet shot him a look.

"Well, I mean, I just don't wanna get in trouble…"

"Since when has that scared you?" she snorted. "Besides, we should be more worried about what Mom'll inflict on us if she comes back and we aren't here."

"If she told you about dinner and going to bed," Dash pointed out, "she won't be home for a long time."

Violet paused. This was true. Still, just for the sake of arguing with her brother, she decided to continue the debate.

"Okay, but who'll watch Jack-Jack?"

"Well, you don't have to go to school…"

"You are sooo not leaving me with the baby," Violet growled. "Some of us actually have friends, ya know."

Dash made a face, pretending to laugh at her oh-so-hilarious joke.

"He'll be fine," he assured her. "Now c'mon, let's go!"

"And just how do you expect to get to school?" Vi protested. "I'm not planning on walking."

Dash grinned.

"I've got an idea."

Violet groaned.

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Helen, now Elastigirl, was doing her best to get quickly down the hallway, but the grounds were vast and invariable, with so many identical rooms. Which one belonged to Mirage? If she didn't find out soon, she was sure the many security cameras around would get her caught.

Sure enough, as she entered one room, an alarm went off. She threw her arm out with such force that the system that triggered it shattered.

"Ah! Ow. God," she snapped, cradling her hand. "That was one hard box."

She shook off the pain and swiftly exited the room. Hopefully she wouldn't have to do that again. After all, there were only… thousands of rooms to look through, she sighed dejectedly. How would she ever find Mirage?

Wait. There it was.

But it was getting fainter.

Mirage seemed to be talking into some sort of communications device, as she kept walking, but no reply could be heard. Helen realized that the sound was coming from a vent. She pressed her ear to it, but the sound continued to fade.

Suddenly, she had an idea.

Very slowly, as to not trigger the motion sensors rigged up nearby, Helen stretched herself out thinly so she could squeeze into the thin, sleek vent.

It was dark and tight within it, and Helen knew she could only stay stretched this thin for so long; she had to hold her breath so her lungs would stay compressed too. So she crawled furiously after the sound of Mirage's voice.

Finally feeling as though she couldn't bear to lack air for one more moment, Helen squeezed through another vent and tumbled out…

…right into the path of a group of oncoming guards.