In the Parr's apartment, Laura Reed looked in the mirror as she reminisced about old times, while Clark cooked breakfast in the kitchen behind her.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making breakfast."

"Why?"

"I'm hungry."

"You think I don't know what you're doing? We talked about this. We had a deal."

"I know. I know. But, with the curse broken, I thought maybe you would change your mind."

"Well, I didn't. What's this?" She asked, pointing to a wrapped gift on the table with a card attached.

"Birthday present."

"No, I told you…"

"It's not from me."

"No one else knows."

"Apparently someone does, and they also think you should celebrate. It was left outside the door this morning."

"Morning, Mom. Morning Dad." Violet said, yawning and rubbing her eyes, while Dash did the same, still in their pajamas as they got out of bed.

"Morning, kids." The adults both greeted them with a hug.

Dash saw some sugar cereal and was close to grabbing it, but Clark stopped him at the last minute.

"No sugary cereal on my watch." He took away the cereal box and gave the kids a plate of pancakes.

Dash scoffed as he got the maple syrup and put it on his pancakes.

"Thanks, Dad." Violet said, putting some fruit on hers.

Ignoring the card, Laura Reed opened the gift. Inside was a leather flight helmet with goggles she hadn't seen in years.

"What is it?" Clark asked. She lifted the helmet out of the box and began to tear up. "I thought that was lost when the curse hit."

"So did I." Laura Reed sniffled, her voice breaking.

She handed the helmet to Clark and opened the envelope. Inside was a card that said 'Thinking of you today. -Snug'.

"I didn't know he was in Pixfaire."

"Neither did I."

"After the curse, you were gone for a while. You know, we're all still finding each other. It hasn't been easy."

"I have to go."

"Okay. Hey. Happy Birthday." They kissed.

"Thank you for understanding. You should go. It's getting late. You have to go to work."

"I know. I just...I wish this day made you happier."

"I know, but we both know it can't."

Clark arrived at the Sheriff's station. As he hung up his coat, he was briefly distracted by a noise. While his attention was elsewhere, Katherine ambushed him and knocked him unconscious with a crowbar, taking his keys.

"Sorry, pal, but I think you have something of mine." She said, taking his keys. Katherine unlocked the desk drawer and retrieved her satchel.

A man was working on a model of a World War II plane when he heard a knock on the door. He went to answer it and was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Snug?"

''Helen?" He said, looking surprised.

"It's 'Laura Reed' here."

"No. You'll always be my friend Helen." They hugged.

"I never thought I'd see you again. Or this." She held up the helmet and goggles from behind her back.

"Oh. I came across it in Ms. Wood's shop, and I knew how much it meant to you. I knew you had to have it."

"Thank you. Oh. I haven't seen those planes in a long time." Laura Reed said, looking at the model planes that reminded her of their past lives.

"They reminded me of you, because they could survive big explosions, and you've survived some pretty big ones."

"That's part of why I chose the name 'Elastigirl'.'"

"I thought keeping this collection would be a nice way to honor the fallen supers."

"It is."

"I miss them, too." Snug put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Suddenly, they heard a rustling noise coming from the woods behind the house.

"What was that?"

"Stay here. I'm sure it was nothing."

"Helen..."

"No, no, please. Please, just stay here. I'll be right back." Laura Reed went to investigate, while Snug stayed behind. In the woods, Laura Reed came across Derek, who was digging a hole, and Evelyn standing off to the side, watching. Laura Reed stayed back and listened in.

"And you're sure this is where we're supposed to look?" Evelyn asked.

"Yes." Derek consulted the map. "Muntz marked it clearly. That guitar is here."

"Unless Muntz lied to us."

"Well, then this map is useless. Cordwain is the only one who can translate it."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. Muntz could've saved us a lot of effort with honesty, but, the truth is, we don't need anyone. I can reconstruct the map. It'll just take a bit more time. And when we find it, I promise you, I'll use that guitar to force Rivera to kill anyone you like."

Laura Reed arrived at the Sheriff's station to find Clark unconscious on the floor. "Clark? Cark!" She rushed over to him and frantically tried to wake him up. "Clark?! Clark!" He groaned as he came to. She sighed in relief. "What happened?"

"Katherine. She ambushed me."

"Are you hurt?" She asked, helping him stand up.

"I'm fine. It's not me she wants. It's Cordwain…and her satchel. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy throwing her butt in jail."

"Katherine isn't the problem."

"Tell that to my head."

"It's Syndrome. He's been lying to us. He's working with Evelyn to find the guitar."

"The guitar controls her. If Evelyn gets it, she can force Cordwain to do her bidding."

"Or… harness its power for herself."

"Neither one of those options sounds good. Lucky for us, we can call the woman herself." Clark started dialing the phone. "She's with Jack-Jack."

"Tried it. Sent a message."

He hung up the receiver. "Well, we can't just wait."

"No, we have to buy time until they call us back or return."

"How?"

"Syndrome. He doesn't trust his mother. Never has. If we can put some doubt in him about Evelyn's motives, it might slow them down."

"And you think he'll just trust me?"

"Well, he doesn't need to trust you. He just has to listen to you. And I know how to get him to do that."

In New York City, Sam and Hilary talked and walked down a street, while Ms. Cordwain and Jack trailed behind them.

"So, uh... You like pizza?" Sam asked, making conversation.

"Yeah. Let me guess, you're gonna tell me the best pizza is in New York and I gotta try it, right?"

"Here, let's get you a slice."

"So you're really from there?"

"Yeah, I am."

Sam and Hilary entered the pizza shop while Jack and Ms. Cordwain stood outside.

"Do you think that we should..." Jack started to ask.

"If we were welcome, I feel confident an invitation would have been extended. It's a sad truth that the people closest to us are the ones capable of causing us the most pain. That's our common ground, Jack."

"Guess my lying to her just caught up with me."

"Ah, give her time." Ms. Cordwain assured. "Hilary will forgive you."

"I hope so."

They watched Sam and Hilary through the window.

"I need you to speak to her. Try and convince her to come back to Pixfare with us." Ms. Cordwain requested.

"If I recall, there was only one favor I owed you, and I think I'm paid up." Jack said. "Plus, I don't know if she's going to like it."

"This isn't about me anymore. You'll do it for Hilary."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, because if you don't, you're gonna wake up one morning and discover she's hopped on a bus back to New York. She ran away to Boston to be with you. She'll do the same thing for her mother."

"Until Sam lets her down, which she will. It'll be a hard lesson, but then at least Hilary will understand that I lied to protect her.

"Someone's beginning to sound a lot like Syndrome. I think the real reason you lied was to protect yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"From getting hurt again."

"That's not happening."

"You want a second chance with that woman."

"What makes you think that?"

"The look on your face."

"You have no idea what..."

"What are we talking about?" Sam asked as she and Hilary left the pizza shop and joined them.

"Jack, Sam wanted to show me the museum." Hilary said. "Do you think we can go back to the apartment and get my camera?"

"Yeah, well, I... kids like culture, right?"

"Sure. Yeah, that's fine." Jack agreed. "You like the New York pizza?" He asked Hilary.

"Yeah. It's delicious, cheesy, and doesn't lie."

Laura Reed started dialing the Riveras' number on her phone and waited for an answer.

The Riveras were working on some instruments when they heard the phone ring.

"I'll get it." Luisa said, stopping what she was doing and answering the phone. "Hola, you reached- Oh, hey, Helen, how are you? Good, oh, is eve- oh, we have work, but we might close down early. Is it urgent? Ok, will be there." Luisa's expression changed as she ended the call. "That was Helen. They want to have an urgent family meeting immediately."

The rest of the family looked up from their work.

"Por qué, querida? What's the matter?" Enrigue asked.

"I don't know." Luisa explained, looking at her family. "It's something about the guitar, and they want to hold the meeting immediately at their place."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Elena put her work down and stood up. "Let's get going." They closed the shop and soon arrived at the Parr's apartment.

Laura Reed answered the door when she heard them knocking. "Hi. I'm so glad you guys made it."

"No hay problema, Helen." Luisa said, getting the younger twins to settle down.

"So, what's this all about?" Victoria wondered as they came inside.

"It's something serious." Laura Reed said as she walked over to get the guitar.

"What's the guitar doing here?" Miguel asked. "I thought it was at our house."

"I don't know. Someone took it from the house and wrote something on it."

"They did? What does it say?" Rosa asked.

Laura Reed began showing the inscription on the back of the guitar. The family was surprised when they saw the words 'La Llorona'

"I didn't know that was there." Miguel said.

"We couldn't have known. It was out of our family for years." Rosa mentioned.

"Yeah, and the guitar was there during the curse." Victoria said, fixing her glasses.

"Maybe we should ask Mamá Imelda about it when she gets back." Rosita suggested.

"Yeah, we should." Helen said, looking back at the guitar, worried.

Derek entered the diner, where Clark was seated in a booth, waiting for him.

"So how's Hilary? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Everything's fine."

"What'd she say?"

"I didn't actually talk to her."

Derek sighed and sat down. "Then why am I here?"

"Because I know you've been lying, and I thought it was time we talked about it."

"I don't know what you're talking about-"

"No, no, no, no. No more lying. I know you've been with your mother. I know you're looking for the guitar."

"What I'm doing is my business."

"There's a war starting, Syndrome."

"That much is clear, yes."

"Lucky for you, you've earned enough good will with me to give you one last chance, a chance to choose the right side... the side of good."

"Have you ever considered that maybe, perhaps... I am good? I was a super. It was you who added 'villain' to my title."

"Good doesn't do what you do. Why? Syndrome, why go back to being this way after how hard you tried?"

"And what did it get me? Dinner with a bunch of hypocrites who pretend they'll forgive me, when... in their hearts, they know... they never will. You're giving me the chance? How about I give you one? Stay out of my way." Derek stood up to leave.

"Listening to your mother is a mistake."

Derek scoffed. "Because listening to you will work out so much better."

"She doesn't care about Hilary. All she wants is power."

"Power is how you get things."

"She doesn't care about you."

"Really? And what would you know?" Derek stood up and stormed out of the diner.

On their way back to Sam's apartment, Hilary and Ms. Cordwain talked while Jack and Sam followed behind them.

"So, should I call you 'great-great-great-grandma' now?" Hilary asked.

"Call me Mamá Imelda."

"She's a good kid." Sam said with a smile.

"Yeah." Jack nodded.

"Hey, I'm trying my best here."

"I know. We all are. It's just, we're going to have to go back. To our home."

"I'm just gettin' to know her."

"Well, maybe... maybe you should come with us."

"To Pixfare?"

"I've seen your apartment. You don't got a lot going on here."

"Looks can be deceiving. Listen...there's something I've been meaning to tell you. It's complicated."

"So, Sam, do you think we can take the subway?" Hilary came over and asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Of course. Let's go get that camera."

They arrived at the apartment and the four of them entered the lobby.

"Come on."

"Here. I got it." Sam unlocked the door. "So after this, maybe Times Square?" She suggested as she and Hilary headed for the apartment, while Jack and Ms. Cordwain stayed behind.

"So, uh, did you talk to her?" Ms. Cordwain asked Jack.

"She said it's complicated."

"Oh, I see."

"Well, maybe she just needs some time. I don't know."

Suddenly, Katherine appeared and ambushed the two of them. She knocked Jack to the ground, pinned Ms. Cordwain to the wall, and stabbed her in the chest.

"Back to the Land of the Dead for you, Rivera. You took my love, my happiness. And for that, I now take your life."

Jack, regaining his senses, came behind Katherine and hit her over the head. Once she was knocked unconscious, Jack rushed to Ms. Cordwain, who was now slumped on the floor.

"Cordwain, are you all right?"

Sam heard the commotion and entered the lobby. "What's going on?"

"One of her enemies found us."

"Muntz."

"You know her?"

Sam checked Ms. Cordwain's wound. When she pulled her hand away, there was blood on her fingers. "Mamá Imelda?" She whispered, concerned. Sam brought Ms. Cordwain up to her apartment, where Hilary was still waiting, and laid her on the couch.

"Found a storage room and locked our stab-happy explorer in there. She shouldn't be causing anyone else any problems." Jack explained, closing the door as he entered. "And get this—she had a map on her. It looks like she flew her blimp here." He turned to Hilary. "Don't worry. She's not gonna hurt any of us."

"But is Ms. Cordwain gonna be okay?"

"Hilary, she's gonna be fine." Sam assured.

"Ms. Cordwain, are you all right?"

Jack brought his cell phone over to Hilary. "Hey, kid. The battery's dead. Go into the other room and see if you can find a charger, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed before leaving the room.

Sam looked worried. "Oh, man. We gotta get her to an E.R. fast."

"No, it's pointless." Ms. Cordwain shook her head. The wound had turned a yellow-green color.

"What is that?" Jack wondered, freaked out.

"It's poison. It's one of Muntz's own making." She said in a strained voice. "There's no antidote in this world. It's... It's not from here."

"Hey. Hey, hey. There's gotta be some way we can save you." Sam tried to reassure her.

"There is. There is."

"Pixfaire." Jack realized. "There's magic there now. We need to get her back."

"I'll get a car."

"No, no, no. We don't have time. We need something faster. The blimp." Ms. Cordwain suggested.

"The Spirit of Adventure instead of a car?" Jack said doubtful.

"It's the fastest vessel in all the realms."

"Well, that's great, but who's gonna pilot it since the only woman qualified wants you dead?

"I can do it." Sam volunteered.

Ms. Cordwain exhaled sharply. "Socorro?"

"Yeah. I can do it."

Jack looked surprised. "You know how to fly a blimp?"

"Yeah. I do." Sam took out her cell phone and started texting.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"Getting us a car."

"I thought you were suddenly a pilot and were gonna take a blimp."

"Yeah, well, we still gotta get her to the blimp."

"So you know Katherine?"

"It's a long story." Her cell phone started ringing. "That should be our ride. Hang tight." Sam left the room to answer the phone.

Hilary then entered with Jack's cell phone. "Jack, you need to see this."

"What is it, kid?"

"It's a text from Clark and Laura Reed. You need to read it now." Hilary handed the phone to Jack.

He read the text. "Bad news, Cordwain."

"What, worse than incurable poison?"

"I don't know. You tell me. You got a guitar hidden somewhere in Pixfaire that's the source of all your power?"

She took a breath. "Get to your point."

"Evelyn's after it. The only way to stop her is to have Clark and Laura Reed get to it first."

"Yeah, let Evelyn try."

"You can't seriously be willing to risk this, not with your great-great-granddaughter coming back with you to Pixfaire.

"Jack, that guitar hasn't left my family's possession for years." She whispered. "It's not about to now.

"Here's the thing. You're dying... and right now we're your best hope. The time's come for you to start trusting someone. If I were you, I'd start with family."

Laura Reed was about to return the guitar when Derek and Evelyn teleported into the room.

"Evelyn?"

"You're too late." Clark picked up the phone to alert the other supers, but Evelyn disconnected the call.

"Actually, it seems that we found you just in time."

"E, take the kids to your place." Helen ordered.

Edna started taking Dash and Violet.

"Wait! What about you guys?!" Violet asked.

"Don't worry about us. We'll handle this."

The kids did as they were told, but they began to look at each other as if they were making their own plans. Once the kids were gone, the adults handled the situation.

"I told you to pick your side carefully." Clark said to Derek. "Good has won, just as it always does."

Evelyn chuckled. "I think the day has finally come, Elastigirl, for you to learn a long overdue lesson." She teleported Snug into the room.

"Snug!" Laura Reed cried in shock.

"You see, in the end, it isn't good or evil that wins, but power."

Derek took out a taser and began to shock Snug with it. "Your choice."

"Don't harm him." Laura Reed pleaded. "He has nothing to do with this."

"Of course he does." Evelyn smirked.

"Whatever they want, Helen, don't give it to them." Sung said.

Ian stepped in between them, gripping his staff.

"Mother, watch out." Derek warned.

"Out of the way, elf." Evelyn froze Ian with his zero-point energy and threw him across the room.

"Ian!" Clark said running to him as Ian hit the wall.

"I'm ok." Ian groaned, touching his head.

"Bob, get Ian to the hospital!" Laura Reed instructed. "I'll handle this!"

"I'm on it." He said as he guided Ian out the door.

Ian groaned in pain, as the impact on the wall caused bleeding and broken glasses.

"Don't worry. We'll get you fixed up."

As they left, Laura Reed turned to look at Derek and Evelyn.

"Just leave me, Helen!" Snug pleaded.

Derek began to shock Snug again, causing him to yell in pain.

"Enough of this." Evelyn interrupted. "Surrender the guitar."

"Or what?" Laura Reed asked.

"Let me go, Helen. It's alright." Snug yelled out again in pain as Derek continued to tase him.

"Enough!" Laura Reed shouted in anger as she fell to her knees, dropping the guitar.

Derek stopped tasing Snug and Evelyn picked up the guitar.

"Such a good girl, Elastigirl." Evelyn smiled.

"You have what you came for."

"Not quite everything." Evelyn was about to use electric force to throw Snug out the window but suddenly was stopped by a force field.

They turned to see a group of supers led by Dash and Violet.

"Right on time." Derek said.

"Kids, what are you doing here?" Laura Reed asked. "I told you to stay with Edna."

"Well... we figured we'd made a few calls." Violet said.

"You two are outnumbered now." Frozone said, pointing at Derek and Evelyn.

"Now, let Snug go." Voyd said, "Or do you want to repeat what happened last time."

"Fine. We don't need him anyway." Evelyn used zero-point energy to throw him toward the group.

Luckily, Violet used her force field to catch him and then handed him to the other supers.

"Get him to the hospital, now!" Dash instructed.

With the supers distracted, Derek and Evelyn grabbed the guitar and teleported out of the room.

Derek and Evelyn soon arrived at Derek's mayoral office.

"It's nice to be back." Derek said, stretching his body. "Hiding is quite wearisome."

Evelyn sat in the chair behind the desk and laid the guitar in front of him. "I like what you've done with the place."

"So happy you approve." Derek said with a chuckle.

Evelyn noticed the look on his face. "What is it, my love? You're troubled."

"You never told me about your history with Elastigirl."

"I spared you that burden like any good parent would do."

"You didn't think I deserved to know exactly what it took for me to be where I am now?"

"Now you know."

"That day at the park, when I rescued her daughter, that wasn't an accident, was it?" Derek realized. His mind flashed back to the past in the Pixar world.

Evelyn checked to see what her son was doing. It seemed like he was disobeying her again. Buddy got changed into his clothes and fixed his hair as the limo arrived and he hurried outside. Evelyn started to secretly follow him and soon found him at the diner with Maggie.

"That girl again." Evelyn grumbled quietly. Later, she followed them to the park. Evelyn looked at the couple, furious. "There has to be a way to get through to that boy." She said, trying to think. She then noticed a young Violet Riding on her tricycle.

"You knew I'd be at the park when Violet rode past." Derek realized.

"And what does this knowledge change for you?" Evelyn wondered with a sinful smile.

"That you won, Mother. And, if that's what you wanted so badly, why do you need Rivera's guitar now?"

"You're worried my interests no longer align with yours."

"My only interest now is Hilary."

"And I've told you – you'll have her.

"But how? Now that Clark and Laura Reed know we have the guitar, we can't use Cordwain to kill them without Hilary finding out.

"Have patience, my love. By the time Rivera returns, Jack Swan and the rest of them will be nothing more than a vaguely unpleasant memory. And Hilary will be yours."

In New York, Jack and Sam were walking to the car that Sam had arranged for.

"It should be one more block west."

"Once we get the car, what do we do about Katherine?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. She's made her way to New York, I'm sure she can make her way out of a basement. You have a problem leaving her behind?"

"Actually, I've done it before."

"Great."

"I have to admit, after some of the things you've said, I'm surprised you'd rally to her side like this."

"She's still my family."

"What happens when she's healed?"

"I don't know. Forgiveness isn't something I think is possible with them."

"But somewhere inside you, you hope someday, it will be."

"Life's full of surprises, isn't it?"

"Well, no matter what, it'll be nice for Hilary to be around you a little bit, even if it is just for a visit."

"Here's our car." Sam ran over to a grey car and grabbed a set of keys from behind the wheel.

"Please tell me we're not going to hotwire this thing."

"No. Uh… It belongs to a friend."

"That's a generous friend."

"Yeah, about that. Um… We need to finish our conversation from earlier. There's something you need to know about me before we get on the blimp."

"Sam!" A man called out to her and ran up to them. "Thank goodness I caught you."

"What are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I… Maybe I got a little worried after talking to you. You can't just say you're… leaving town for a while."

"Hey. Yeah, listen. Everything's fine, okay? I promise."

"Great, sweetie. Just tell me what's going on."

"Sam?" Jack looked curious.

"I'm Travis."

"Jack." The two shook hands.

"He's my fiancé." Sam explained.

Clark and Laura Reed were at the hospital, waiting to hear news about Ian's and Snug's injuries.

"That never should've happened. They were innocent."

"You can't blame yourself." He reassured her. "You did the best you could do in an impossible situation."

"I've had the same rule my entire career as a super – hold on to goodness. It's what I was always taught. How many more lives is following that lesson going to affect?"

"You can't let Evelyn make you lose faith in who you are." Clark reached for her hand. "Someone who does the right thing. That's exactly what she wants."

"I made the 'right' decision when I sent Jack-Jack through the door alone, and we didn't see him grow up."

"And we keep beating them."

"At what cost? All I want is our happy ending. It's time. We've earned it. No more casualties. No more hearts broken."

"The guitar, it's useless until Cordwain returns to Pixfare. We have time. We'll get it back. And when we do, we can bring Evelyn and Syndrome to justice."

"I don't care about justice anymore. We keep thinking that people will change. What if that's wrong? What if I'm the one who has to change?"

"Change how?"

"I'm going to trap Evelyn in our world."

The flashback is from ch. 44 of our spin-off, Tales of Pixfare.

Thanks to Vanessa5400 for helping with planning, writing, and suggesting the title. We decided to have Helen want to send Evelyn away for good instead of killing her. Also, Sam and Travis first meet in the spin-off.

As usual, we would love to hear feedback.