Chapter 9: With Courage into the Darkness
When Helen and Bob sat at the kitchen table the next morning, they wore sad expressions on their faces.
"If only Lucius was here. I'm sure he'd know what to do." Bob said with his head down.
"But he and Honey are on vacation until next week. We can't make him return early. You know how much they were looking forward to it." Helen answered him while putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I know… I know."
They weren't sure what to think, when suddenly the door to their kids' room opened and out came Dash and Violet with big smiles on their lips.
"Mom! Dad! We found out why Uriel defeated us!" Violet said as she greeted her parents.
"Well. Violet found out. It all makes sense now!" Dash laughed as he sat down on his chair.
"What did you find out?" Bob wore a questioning look on his face as he looked up at the two siblings.
Violet just smiled in his direction and explained
"You remember when we found out that the angel Uriel was related to illusions? Maybe that's what happened to us yesterday! He didn't really defeat us, he just made us think he did. That's why that bench you got thrown into wasn't broken anymore after the fog was gone!"
It all made sense now. Helen and Bob looked at each other wide eyed before smiling at each other with rekindled courage.
"All right, kids. That means we can defeat him tonight for sure!" Bob shouted in excitement as he got up from his chair, forming a victory fist.
They spend most of the day talking about strategies how to approach Uriel. The most asked question was: Who is he? Why is he after them? They also trained fighting with their eyes closed, as the illusions had to be seen in order to confuse the heroes. Violet and Dash trained together for hours. After managing to dodge multiple balls of paper from the other sibling with their eyes closed, they decided they are ready for the real fight.
As they shared one last hug before getting into their super suits, Dash thought to himself 'I will not let that idiot hurt you again! I promise!'. He couldn't know it, but Violet was thinking something similar. 'No worries, Dash. I will keep you safe. Just like I told you so often!'
They then got dressed and joined their parents at the dining table.
"We're ready!" They said as they approached them.
Helen and Bob nodded and got up aswell. As they got into the car, there was only one question left. Where would they meet their enemy? When Bob started the car, a trace of fog appeared in front of it, making the heroes look at each other confused.
"Should we… follow it?" Helen asked her husband.
"Of course! It will surely lead us to Uriel!" Violet immediately shouted from behind them, pointing to the fog.
Bob followed the trail slowly, making sure it's not a trap they got lured into, before reaching an area where the fog disappeared. He stopped the car and the four heroes got out of it, looking around carefully.
"Is this our house?!" Dash stuttered as he faced the ruins of their old home, destroyed by the jet of syndrome dropping right on it after exploding in the air.
"Why would he lead us here?" Violet asked while looking around hectically as if something wasn't right.
Suddenly, thick fog appeared in front of them.
"To make you realize that everything must come to an end, Incredibles." A voice came out of it.
The four heroes stood next to each other, facing the masked man as he stepped out of the shadows and stopped on the other side of the street, right in front of their old home. Mr. Incredibles face turned to show anger as he clenched a fist at Uriel.
"Why are you threatening my friends and family?! Who are you?!" He asked.
After a short period of silence, the villain pulled back his hood, showing the long, gray-white hair it hid.
"Some supers are blessed with their powers. They can save their family and the cities they swore to protect. Some others however, are not that lucky." Uriel began. "Some supers have powers only to unsettle them. To weaken them. I happen to be one of them and found a way to change that. But this was associated with great risk. I can control my powers now, yet it cost me everything."
As he finished his sentence, he took off his black mask, revealing a heavily scarred face.
"You see, one day I stumbled upon a formula that could strengthen my powers, making me able to control the pain I had to endure. The formula however wasn't as great as I expected and it made my body weaker. With every day it succumbs further, making me crumble to dust eventually. And then I found a way to prevent that from happening."
Elastigirl looked over to her family and then at Uriel again.
"And what does that have to do with the people you took? And with us?" She asked with an angry expression on her face.
The villain closed his eyes and smiled confidently.
"To prevent my body from decaying I need energy. Energy that only other supers emit. But superheroes are illegal now. That's why it wasn't easy to find them. However… some of them stepped out of the shadow, defeating the omnidroid, making me initiate my plan. I observed you and took people that had to do with you to catch your attention. I knew you would want to stop me and here you are."
He put his mask back on and looked at the four supers who were ready to fight him.
"We will take you on!" Elastigirl shouted.
"There's only one of you that impressed me yesterday." As Uriel said this, he pointed over to Violet.
"You were determined to fight for your brother. If you dare, follow me into the darkness." He turned around and walked into the fog.
Violet looked at her family with determination in her eyes.
"I will do this!" She said.
"But honey…" Before her mother could say anymore Violet smiled at her and continued
"I know how to beat him. Don't worry."
Dash was on the verge of tears as his sister stepped closer to the fog. He couldn't let that happen. He ran in front of her and hugged her waist tightly, holding her back.
"Please don't go, Vi!" He begged.
Violet returned the hug and lifted his head a little to make him look into her eyes.
"Don't be scared, Dash. Remember what I told you? I'll always be there. I'm definitely not gonna let that lunatic hurt you. I'll be back soon. I promise."
With that, she slowly moved his hands to separate him from her and began walking towards the fog again. The moment she reached it, she pulled up a force field and her family watched in worry as the purple ball of energy faded into it, eventually disappearing into nothingness. When Dash tried to follow her a little more, he gasped in shock as he couldn't enter the fog, as it suddenly hardened to ice.
"VIOLET! NO!"
Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl rushed over to him and calmed him down, assuring him that Violet will be okay.
Inside the fog, Violet walked with her force field protecting her. When she reached Uriel, he was standing in the ruins of their old house.
"I can see you're ready to fight. Tell me, why do you wish to protect Dash that much?" The villain asked her.
Violet ended her force field and faced her enemy, taking a fighting pose
"Because he is my brother and I love him more than anything"
She was a little confused by his question as she didn't know why he'd care about that. But it was irrelevant.
"Get ready to get beaten you freak!" She screamed as she approached Uriel fast.
He just raised a hand at her, making everything look like it moved. But Violet closed her eyes and ran up to him, hitting him with a force field and sending him flying further into the ruins. With a painful gasp, he landed on a stone.
"So, you found out about my powers. Impressive. I can see you have prepared well." He said.
As he got up, Violet already jumped into the air, creating another force field around her, making her levitate inside it. She quickly moved to Uriel as he put a hand on the field, only for her to smirk before rolling over him.
"Nothing but illusions." She said.
As she turned around, Uriel was already up on his feet, looking in her direction.
"You seem to think you already won, but believe me, the real fight is just starting." He assured her.
Violet kept smirking before screaming
"Then bring it on!"