Chapter 30: Infiltration

The sleek aircraft shot through the air just above the churning waters of the sea, drawing rapidly closer the lonely volcanic island, an ominous column of black smoke rising into the darkening sky as the sun began to dip below the horizon. As the aircraft reached the shore, its VTOL engines smoothly shifted into their hovering configuration, slowing the plane to a stop as it descended to float just a few feet off the ground. A moment later, a door on the side of the aircraft slid open, allowing Ultraviolet, Elastigirl, Kaiju, Doctor Cockroach and Mirage to hop from the jet and onto the island's rocky beach. As the group collected themselves, Mirage signaled to the pilot of the jet, prompting the aircraft to rise back into the air before shifting back into flight mode and shooting back over the water.

"Okay," Mirage said quietly as she turned her attention to the rest of the team, adjusting the cloves of her black jumpsuit, "Until I send the signal to the cavalry, we're on our own here, and even when I do that, they're not going to get here in a timely fashion. So, we have to move carefully and quietly."

As Mirage said that, Kaiju shifted his feet and accidentally stepped on a piece of driftwood, which snapped loudly beneath his weight. Turning their collective attention towards Kaiju, the rest of the team looked at him with a combination of annoyance and concern.

"Uh," Kaiju mumbled awkwardly, "Sorry."

"Come on," Mirage stated with a shake of her head as she gestured for the others to follow her.

Together, the team crept quietly away from the island's shores and made their way up the slopes of the volcano, Kaiju taking up the rear as he did his best to move as quietly as possible.

"So, do we have any idea of how we're actually going to get inside?" Kaiju whispered loudly as the team continued their ascent.

"Well, even when you're trying to hide a structure, you still have to take basic utilities into account," Elastigirl explained as she smoothly crept along, her feet flattening out to reduce the amount of noise each of her steps made, "Water, power-"

A loud clang interrupted Elastigirl, prompting the team to look at Kaiju, who managed to step directly onto a metal grate that had been disguised by the surrounding rocks.

"Ventilation," Elastigirl finished as she blinked in surprise.

"Sorry," Kaiju whispered, clearly embarrassed.

"No, this is a good thing," Ultraviolet assured him, before a brief look of chagrin flashed across her face, "Well, I mean you're still making too much noise, but this is exactly the type of thing we were looking for."

"Uh, I hate to break it to you, Vi," Kaiju said with uncertainty as he looked down at the small vent, "But I'm not fitting through that, even if I take my costume off."

"No, but it shouldn't be a problem for me," Doc retorted as he pushed a button on his watch and shrunk down to miniature size.

"Nor me," Elastigirl added, "I can squeeze in after you, and together, we should be able to find a way to get the two of you inside as well."

"Stay safe," Ultraviolet whispered to her mother.

"You too," Elastigirl replied with a nod before she squeezed her way through the gaps in the vent, Doc following along behind her.

Sneaking through the vents, the pair crawled downwards into the Syndicate's base. Quickly, they found themselves at another vent cover overlooking a hallway. As they watched, a pair of guards marched past them, chatting with each other as they went. As the guards walked past the vent, Elastigirl reached through the gaps and grabbed the guards by their heads before bashing them together, causing the guards to grunt in pain as they crumbled limply to the floor.

After squeezing their way out of the vent, Elastigirl quickly began searching the guards while Doc looked around for signs of any more of them.

"Are you hoping they're carrying a map of this place?" Doc questioned as he quirked an eyebrow at Elastigirl.

"You'd be surprised," Elastigirl replied as she glanced over her shoulder, "These places can be mazes and these goons still need to know where they're going to do their jobs. I once took down a villain who handed out color coded books that had full 3-D blueprints of his base."

As Elastigirl rifled through one of the guard's pockets, she smiled as she pulled out a folded up piece of paper.

"Bingo," Elastigirl said as she held up the map for Doc to see before she opened it and began looking it over.

"Okay, if this is right, there should be an escape hatch just down the hall that we can get the others in through," Elastigirl said as she stood up and indicated in the appropriate direction.

"That was surprisingly easy," Doc said as he blinked in shocked.

"Like I said," Elastigirl replied over her shoulder as she gestured for Doc to follow her, "You'd be surprised."

Doc still looked unsure as he glanced between Elastigirl and the guards before following behind her. At the end of the hall, Elastigirl opened a door that led to a shaft with a ladder upwards. Stretching her limbs to quickly scale the ladder, she reached the top where a hatch closed the shaft off from the outside. Pushing the hatch open, Elastigirl stretched her neck out of the shaft and looked around, quickly spotting Mirage, Ultraviolet and Kaiju crouched a short distance away. Whistling to catch their attention, Elastigirl motioned for the trio to come to her, prompting them to hustle over and follow her down into the shaft.

"Okay, do we have any idea where to go from here?" Kaiju questioned as he glanced around at the featureless walls of the hallway.

"Well, the map I lifted off of the guard isn't marked with 'kidnapped super toddler here,'" Elastigirl answered as she pulled out the paper and consulted it, "But there is a large central chamber that looks important."

"Sounds like a good a place to start as any," Ultraviolet observed as Elastigrl folded up the map.

"I was thinking the same thing," Elastigirl agreed as she motioned for the rest of the team to follow her, "Come on, and keep quiet."

Nodding in reply, Ultraviolet turned invisible while Dr. Cockroach shrunk himself. As Mirage crept along Elastigirl, Kaiju moved to press the button to trigger his chameleon ability, but paused at the last moment before deciding not to activate it and quietly followed behind Elastigirl.

The group snuck through the winding hallways of the base, carefully avoiding a few other groups of patrolling guards as they went. Eventually, their map led them to a corner which Ultraviolet quietly stuck her invisible head around.

"It looks like the big room is at the end of this hall," she reported in a hushed tone, "There's a pair of guards blocking the way."

"Okay, Vi, you and Doc go take those guys out," Elastigirl ordered, "Keep it quiet."

"They'll never see us coming," Ultraviolet replied before she and Doc began sneaking down the hall.

"Hey, did you catch the game last night?" one of the guards said as he glanced down the hall, unaware of the pair of heroes creeping towards them.

"The game?" the other guard replied with a snort of derision, "What game?"

"The one they were playing in the cafeteria," the first guard explained with a shrug.

"You were watching a soccer game on that shitty little TV they have in the cafe?" the second guard asked with a chuckle, "God, I know we don't have a lot to do around here but that seems a little desperate."

"Hey, it was a good game!" the first guard argued defensively, "And don't let El Macho hear you say that. He'd probably break you in half for that alone."

"Yeah, well, he's not here and there's not anyone who can do anything about i-," the second guard started to say but was interrupted when a blow suddenly struck him in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. A split second later, Ultraviolet reappeared next to the guard, her hands clasped above her head with a shimmering force field surrounding them. With a grunt of effort, Ultraviolet slammed the force field against the back of the guard's neck, eliciting a pained gag from the man as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Holy shit!" the other guard exclaimed as he desperately tried to bring his assault rifle to bear. Before he could, Doc hopped onto his shoulder and leapt into the air above the guard's head. Shifting back to his original size, Doc brought his whole weight down onto the guard, slamming him to the floor and knocking him out.

With both of the guards neutralized, Ultraviolet quickly signaled for Elastigirl, Mirage, and Kaiju to join them while Doc looked around the large room for any signs of further danger. As he did, his eyes inevitably fell on the object sitting at the center of the room and he sucked in a gasp.

"What?" Ultraviolet questioned as she glanced around warrily, "What is it?"

"They rebuilt it," Doc whispered, not appearing to have heard Ultraviolet's question, "I can't believe it. But for what purpose?"

"What is it?" Elastigirl questioned as she stepped up next to Doc and nodded towards the gene resequencer, "Do you know what that thing is?"

"Of course I do," Doc replied, his gaze focused intensely on the machine, "I invented it after all."

Before Elastigirl could press Doc for more info, a muffled cry came from the gene resequencer. Freezing in place, the team listened carefully to see if the sound would repeat itself. When another small, pitiful cry came from the machine, Elastigirl let out a small gasp.

"Jack Jack!" Elastigirl exclaimed as she rushed into the room, Ultraviolet on her heels.

"Wait!" Doc hissed as he and Mirage chased after the mother and daughter, leaving Fred in their wake, "I fear this might be-"

Before Doc could finish his sentence, Elastigirl reached out with her elongated arm and grabbed the handle of the gene resequencer's door, then yanked it open. Inside the machine's central chamber, however, was nothing more than a small device with a speaker.

"A trap," Doc finished as the doors to the room slammed shut with a deafening clang.

As Elastigirl and Ultraviolet looked at the empty machine in shock, a chorus of loud, mocking laughs filled the room. Turning to regard the room, Doc, Mirage, Elastigirl and Ultraviolet saw a shimmer in the air before the entire Syndicate appeared in a circle around them. Enigma stood directly in front of the trio, his mechanical arm resting on the back of Jack Jack's head as the boy stood whimpering before him. Phantasma stood to his right, her arms morphed into tendrils that held Gru and Lucy's arms behind their backs as they knelt in front of her.

"How?" Ultraviolet questioned, her eyes wide with shock.

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to hide from someone who isn't looking for you," Mezmerella spoke up with a sly grin as she tapped the side of her nose.

"Give me back my son, you bastard!" Elastigirl snarled as she glared at Enigma.

"Now that's not a polite way to ask for something," Enigma chided as he gripped Jack Jack's head and yanked it back, causing the boy to yelp in pain.

"Vi," Elastigirl snapped as she glanced between her compatriots, "Doc."

Without a word, both Ultraviolet and Doc sprung into action, disappearing and shrinking respectively.

"Oh no," Enigma said as he held up his flesh and blood hand and snapped his fingers, "None of that."

A moment later, machines that resembled flood lights built into the ceiling sprung to life, emitting a bright white light and a thrumming hum. As the light filled the room, Ultraviolet let out a scream of pain as she reappeared, falling to her knees and clutching at her head. At the same time, Doc suddenly regrew to full size, the force of his sudden, unplanned change sending him flipping into the air before he landed hard on his back.

"Metaphasic field," Enigma explained with a shrug, "Keeps everyone's molecules right where they should be. I wouldn't try stretching either, Elastigirl. I think you'd find the experience unpleasant."

"What the hell do you want?" Elastigirl demanded.

"What I want isn't something you can give me," Enigma answered as he gently stroked Jack Jack's head, causing the boy to whimper as Elastigirl gritted her teeth, "But I think the AVL will give it to me, in return for me not having my compatriots rip apart a bunch of their agents and heroes."

Snarling, Elastigirl glanced between Doc and Violet, who were still on the ground, before she clenched her hands into a fist and shifted her weight in preparation to attack. She was stopped as Mirage placed her hand on Elastigirl's shoulder, prompting the other woman to look at her as she shook her head.

"Your friend is right, Elastigirl, you know that's a losing play," Enigma chided with a shake of his head, "We've got you all dead to rights."

As Enigma spoke, something behind him caught Elastigirl's eye. At first, it didn't seem like anything was there, but as she watched, Elastigirl noticed a slight shimmer in the air, as if the space behind Enigma was shifting and moving. Shifting in the exact shape of someone she knew.

"Not all of us," she retorted as she turned her glare back towards Enigma.

"Chameleon Kick!" a voice shouted before Enigma even had time to register Elastigirl's response, and the villain was suddenly struck in the side by a blow powerful enough to send him flying across the room, crashing into El Macho and sending them both falling to the ground. Blinking in shock, Jack Jack looked up just as sparks rippled through the air, revealing Kaiju standing behind him, his leg extended in a kick.

"Flame Breath!" Kaiju shouted before anyone else could react, turning to face Phantasma and shooting a tongue of flame at the villainess, forcing her to shift her shape to better take the brunt of the hero's attack. This was all Gru and Lucy needed to break free from Phantasma's grasp, allowing them to scramble away from the villain.

"Go!" Kaiju shouted at Jack Jack as he pointed towards Elastigirl, "Run to your mom!"

In that moment, Jack Jack snapped back to reality and turned to Elastigirl and began racing towards his mother. Kaiju smirked in triumph underneath his costume as he watched Jack Jack run into his mother's arms. However, this let him be caught off guard as Rollergrrrl raced up behind him and dropkicked him, knocking Kaiju off his feet and sending him tumbling into the center of the room.

"I think that's quite enough of that," Mezmerella said, her eyes narrowing as they took on an otherworldly glow while she held her arm out towards Kaiju. Before she could do anything though, Lucy suddenly leapt up from behind Mezmerella and wrapped her arms around the villain's head in a sleeper hold.

"Yeah," Lucy snarled as Mezmerella struggled against the agent's grip, "I think you're right."

Rolling to a stop, Kaiju quickly shook his head clear, and pushed himself up to hands and feet. As he did, a roar echoed through the chamber and Kaiju lifted his head just in time to see Oni leaping through the air towards them, his massive fists raised above his head to smash down on the young hero. In desperation, Kaiju heaved himself to the side, dodging out of the way as Oni smashed the concrete floor beneath where the hero had been a moment before.

Kaiju quickly rolled to his feet, but he was not nimble enough to avoid the sonic blast that struck him in the side and sent him sprawling. Looking to his side, Kaiju spotted Balthazar Bratt approaching him with his keytar and a savage grin on his face. A moment later, Bratt played another note on his keytar and sent a sonic blast at Kaiju again. Leaping back to his feet, Kaiju flipped out of the way of the attack, only to have to dodge out of the way again as Bratt fired a third sonic blast at him.

Seeing Kaiju on the defensive, Perkins activated his metallic gauntlets and moved to attack him as well, but was blindsided as Gru shoulder tackled the villain, sending him sprawling.

"Oh, Gru, that was a mistake," Perkins snarled, shaking his head as he pushed himself back to his feet, "You might have had a chance to sneak away before, but now I'm going to take my pound of flesh."

"Come and take it zen," Gru challenged as he urged the villain towards him.

Growling, Perkins marched towards Gru and threw a haymaker at his head, which Gru easily ducked and countered with two jabs to the stomach. Grunting in pain, Perkins shoved Gru back, causing the smaller man to stumble for a couple of steps before he caught himself. Clenching his hands into fists, Gru moved to throw another punch at Perkins, as the villain moved to do the same.

While Perkins and Gru continued to fight, Rollergrrl moved to join in on the attack on Kaiju. As she skated across the floor towards him, however, she was blindsided by Mirage, who kicked her in the side, her momentum sending her sprawling.

"Mirage," a deep voice said from behind her, and Mirage turned to find El Macho marching towards her, "I had heard you'd turned traitor. Never thought I'd get to make you pay for it."

Mirage glared defiantly back at El Macho as the villain began running at her. Once he was close enough, El Macho leapt into the air and moved to perform an elbow drop on Mirage, who continued to do nothing but glare at him. As El Macho made contact with Mirage, however, instead slamming his elbow into her head, he instead passed right through her, her form flickering as he slammed into the ground with a grunt of pain.

"Come on, Macho," Mirage chided as her image disappeared and she reappeared in front of him, watching as El Macho pushed himself back to his feet, "Didn't you ever wonder why they called me Mirage?"

As she spoke, Mirage touched the watch on her wrist, which glowed white. A moment later, two copies of Mirage appeared flanking her in flashes of white light, each one of them glaring at El Macho as he glanced between them. Snarling, El Macho rushed forward and threw a punch at the copy of Mirage standing at the middle of the three, but his fist passed through her head and the copy vanished in another flash of light. El Macho gasped in surprise before grunting in pain as the real Mirage stepped up behind him and kicked him hard in the back of his thigh, forcing El Macho down on one knee. Roaring in fury, El Macho swung a backfist at Mirage's head, but she backflipped out of the way, activating her watch again as she did and creating two more copies of herself that went flipping in other directions. Rising to his feet, El Macho glanced around and found the four copies of Mirage surrounding him, causing him to roar in fury as he moved to attack again.

As Kaiju landed after dodging another attack, he heard thunderous footsteps approaching him and turned to find Oni charging him from behind. Rolling out of the way as Oni threw a haymaker at his head, Kaiju was then forced to immediately flip backwards as Bratt fired another sonic blast at him. Seeing Bratt preparing to fire at him again, Kaiju backflipped and planted his feet on Oni's chest before springboarding off the villain, flipping over the sonic blast which struck the monstrous man in the chest and sent him sprawling. Looking at Oni laying on the ground in shock, Bratt had no time to react as Kaiju flipped through the air towards him and knocked him flat with a flying kick to the chest.

Taking a moment to recollect himself, Kaiju quickly scanned his surroundings and saw that the rest of the Syndicate was converging on him.

"Kaiju!" Elastigirl shouted, bringing the young man's attention to her as she pointed upwards, "The emitters!"

Glancing upwards at the humming devices before looking down at Ultraviolet who was still kneeling on the floor, clutching her head, Kaiju nodded in understanding. Before he could do anything, though, Rollergrrl slid in behind Kaiju and swept his legs out from under him, sending the young hero flipping into the air. Before he could fall to the ground, Enigma leapt above him and threw a punch at Kaiju with his mechanical arm, striking the young man in the chest and rocketing him into the hard concrete floor, causing Kaiju to grunt in pain even as his costume blunted most of the impact.

As Kaiju fought to catch his breath, Enigma landed next to him and slammed his mechanical arm against the hero's chest again, before he gripped the young man and lifted him up in order to slam him against the ground. Before he could, Kaiju regained his bearings enough to strike Enigma on his hooded head with one his clawed gauntlets, causing the villain to cry off in pain and loosen his grip on the hero's chest, allowing him to slip free.

"Springboard Kick!" Kaiju shouted as he planted his feet against Enigma's chest and leapt upwards, the springs in his boots sending the hero shooting into the air and slamming the villain against the hard floor. As Kaiju rose towards the high domed ceiling, he began to spin in the air, becoming a whirling top as he reached his apex.

"Spinning Inferno!" Kaiju shouted as he began blasting his firebreath while turning rapidly in place, sending rings of fire in every direction. The flames quickly slammed into the metaphasic field generators, burning through their protective cases and damaging their internal components enough that they exploded in a shower of metal and glass.

Landing back on the floor, Kaiju glanced around in an attempt to regain his bearings, but before he could, his body was suddenly wrapped up by a swarm of microbots. As Kaiju struggled to escape from her grasp, Phantasma reformed her face and one of her arms in front of the hero, forming a sharp spike with her limb and raising it above her head to strike. Before she could, however, an unseen force slammed into the two of them, scattering Phantasma's component parts and sending Kaiju tumbling across the floor. Quickly bouncing back to his feet, Kaiju looked over and spotted Ultraviolet standing a short distance away, her hand extended towards him and her face set in a determined expression.

"We gotta go!" Elastigirl shouted as she stretched her leg out and used it to sweep Rollergrrl's feet out from under her and send her sprawling, still cradling Jack Jack in her arms, "Now!"

Running over to where Doc lay on the ground, still stunned, Lucy quickly helped him to his feet. Across the room, Gru dodged out of the way as Perkins threw another punch at his head, which the smaller man countered with a quick jab to the stomach. As Perkins stumbled back, Kaiju came flying in from the side and dropkicked the villain in the side, sending the large sprawling.

"Hey, man," Kaiju shouted as he pointed a clawed finger at Gru, "You're lucky we've got to get out of here fast because I've got a bone to pick with you!"

"...Who are you?" Gru questioned as he looked at Kaiju in confusion, "Are you, like, a basketball mascot or somezeeng?"

"What?" Kaiju replied, his voice equally caught off guard, "C-Come on, man."

"Come on!" Mirage shouted, bringing everyone's attention to her as she gestured at the thick metal door leading out of the room while El Macho battled with a trio of her copies behind her, "We need to get out of here!"

As the group made their way towards the door, the Syndicate recollected themselves and began moving to pursue. Approaching the heavy metal door, Ultraviolet thrust her hand out and blasted the barrier with a force field, but the attack only managed to slightly dent the steel. Her eyes widening in surprise, Ultraviolet threw out another blast, but once more the door held strong.

"I get the feeleeng we're not goeeng anywhere," Gru observed with a note of worry in his voice.

"Put me down," Jack Jack demanded weakly as he tried to pull himself out of Elastigirl's arms.

"Jack Jack, sweetie, you can't," Elastigirl argued as she fought to hold on to her son.

"Put me down!" Jack Jack roared as he suddenly shifted into his monstrous form and burst out of Elastigirl's arms. Running on all fours, Jack Jack launched himself at the door and began beating on it with his fists, the blows quickly creating large dents in the metal and shaking it in its frame but the door still refused to fall.

Glancing over her shoulder, Ultraviolet spotted the members of the Syndicate quickly closing in on them. Spinning around, Ultraviolet reached out with both hands, and created a large forcefield between her friends and family and the Syndicate. Roaring in rage, Oni charged forward and slammed both of his fists against the forcefield, sending a ripple shooting through it and causing Ultraviolet to gasp in pain while stumbling back half a step, but she managed to keep the shield up.

"We need to get out of here!" Ultraviolet shouted over her shoulder as Oni punched the forcefield, causing it to flicker again.

At the same time, Jack Jack grabbed hold of some of the bent door and yanked on it with all of his might, the metal screeching loudly as it came apart and was left gaping open. Panting heavily, Jack Jack fought to catch his breath, shifting back into his normal form. As soon as the transformation was complete, Jack Jack's eyes fluttered closed and he pitched forward, only kept from hitting the concrete floor by his mother reaching out and grabbing him.

"Come on!" Elastigirl shouted as she cradled the now unconscious Jack Jack in her arms, "We need to get out of here!"

Gritting her teeth, Ultraviolet thrust both of her hands at the Syndicate, causing her forcefield to shoot forward and knock the villains backwards.

Recovering first, Rollergrrl went chasing after the heroes, who were already racing down one of the base's long hallways. As she drew closer, Rollergrrl made a sweeping motion with her hand, causing the floor ahead of the heroes to begin glowing with her green energy. As soon as the heroes stepped on the floor, their feet shot out from underneath them and they all went falling to the ground.

As Rollegrrl drew closer to the heroes, the rest of the Syndicate followed behind her. As he ran, Enigma held up his mechanical arm, and quickly entered a command on the digital keyboard built into the prosthesis. A moment later, a loud alarm sounded and another large metal door began to close ahead of the heroes as they fought to regain their footing on the now frictionless floor.

Seeing the approaching villains and the closing doors, Ultraviolet sprung into motion, thrusting one hand towards the Syndicate and the other towards the ground. An instant later, a pair of force fields sprang into being, one forming a barrier between the heroes and the Syndicate, forcing Rollergrrl to swerve to the side to keep from slamming into it, while Ultraviolet used the other one to cover the frictionless floor, allowing the heroes to get their feet back underneath them.

"Go!" Ultraviolet shouted as she looked over her shoulder, "I'll hold them here!"

"What!?" Elastigirl screamed in reply, her eyes wide with terror, "I'm not leaving you here! Not after all this!"

"Just go!" Ultraviolet replied, her eyes shifting to the door which was rapidly closing.

Elastigirl struggled with the decision for a few moments, her expression stricken, before she looked down at her unconscious son, gritted her teeth and began racing down the hall again.

"Come on!" Elastigirl shouted, prompting the rest of the heroes to begin running along with her.

All except one.

"We can't just leave her!" Kaiju shouted as the other heroes moved through the almost closed door.

"Just go!" Ultraviolet commanded, hissing in pain as Oni slammed into her forcefield, causing it to flicker briefly and distracting her from Kaiju "I'll be-"

Before Ultraviolet could finish, Kaiju suddenly ran up behind her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and with all the strength the suit granted him, tossed her through the air towards the door, sending her tumbling through it moments before the space became too tight to fit through. Rolling to a stop, Ultraviolet quickly pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, her eyes wide in shock as her focus on her forcefields completely shattered.

For a brief moment, Kaiju looks back at Ultraviolet, and even though his mask completely covered his face, she could feel their eyes meet.

And then the doors clanged closed and he was gone.

For a moment, Ultraviolet stared at the sealed door, unable to process what had just happened. Then, all at once, her emotions came flooding upwards, a mixture of fear, despair, and rage exploding out of her at once.

"FRED!"

A/N: Well, it's been awhile since I got to update one of my stories, so I'm happy to be able to put out a new chapter now and I'm hopeful I'll have more stuff out in the near future. Which I'm sure you all appreciate, since I decided to end this one on a cliffhanger. As usual, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!