Chapter 32: Enigma
To say the atmosphere in the hangar of Home Base was tense would be an understatement. Agents and personnel had all gathered as they waited for the imminent arrival of the aircraft returning from the rescue mission. Among them was Dr. Joan Lieber, who was clutching her medical bag so tightly her knuckles were turning white.
Suddenly, the hangar doors began opening, the air filling with the noise an alert klaxon as they did. A few moments later and the aircraft came flying in, each of them settling down in their respective landing zones in the massive hangar, quickly being swarmed by support staff as soon as it was safe to approach them. Joan stepped up to one of the aircraft as the doors slid open, allowing a number of agents, a few who were clearly injured, to exit the vehicle, along with the Parr family. Joan quickly walked up to Helen, who was still cradling the unconscious Jack Jack in her arms.
"How is he?" Joan questioned.
"He doesn't seem to have any wounds on him," Helen answered, her expression anxious, "He passed out from what I think is exhaustion while we were escaping but I can't be sure those monsters didn't do something else to him."
"No, we certainly can't," Joan agreed as she reached out and took Jack Jack into her own arms, Helen only resisting for a moment before allowing the doctor to take over, "That's why we're going to give him a thorough check up to make sure he's as alright as he seems. Now, did anyone else on your team get hurt?"
At this question, an uncertain expression passed over Helen's face as she glanced at Bob, who was just stepping off of the aircraft.
"What is it?" Joan questioned, her brow knitting together in confusion.
"Joan, I…" Bob began, pausing as he struggled to find the words, "The thing is-"
"Dr. Lieber," a whimper came from Joan's left and she turned to find Violet stepping off of the aircraft, tears streaming down her cheeks, her arms wrapped protectively around herself.
"My goodness, Violet, are you alright?" Joan questioned, her concern overriding her confusion, "What happened?"
"I…I'm s-so sorry," Violet managed to blubber through her tears.
Something about the statement hit Joan like a ton of bricks, and everything seemed to click into place, causing a tight knot of panic to form in her stomach as she turned her head and looked Bob dead in the eye.
"Where is my son?"
Fred grunted as he was tossed into the inside the gene resequencer, the door slamming shut behind him, locking him into the tight confines of the machine. Groaning in pain, Fred managed to push himself up to his feet and look through the small window built into the gene resequencer's door. Beyond the door lay the confines of the Underminer's massive drilltank, the constant rumbling and the rocking of the floor beneath his feet telling Fred that the vehicle was enroute to who knew where.
Suddenly, a figure stepped in front of the small window, bringing Fred eye to glowing red eye with Enigma, causing the young man to hop back in surprise, putting his back against the wall of the small chamber.
"Hey there, Freddie," Enigma greeted, his electronic voice muffled by the heavy door, "Ready for your big transformation?"
"What the hell are you going to do to me?" Fred demanded, doing his best to glare at Enigma despite his bruised and battered face.
"Like I told you before," Enigma answered, "I'm going to change you, make you a real superhero. Well, a Super, at the very least."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fred demanded.
"Well, the truth of the matter is we're going to be running a little experiment," Enigma replied enigmatically, "You see, we're mixing a few things together and I expect the results might be a bit volatile."
The response sent a chill down Fred's spine, and he found what fight he had left in him was quickly leaking out of his heart.
"Now, you're already familiar with the effects of PX-41, thanks to my associate Mr. Yama," Enigma explained, motioning to Oni looming behind him, before pulling out a vial of a purple liquid and inserting it into a slot in the gene resequencer, which locked in with an ominous thunk.
"But what you're probably not familiar with is something my compatriot Dr. Callaghan has acquired for us," Enigma continued as Callaghan, now in his black Yokai costume once more, his face obscured by a white and red kabuki mask, stepped into view, and handed Enigma another vial, this one containing a small chunk of rock that was radiating bright blue energy.
"Quantonium," Enigma explained as he inserted the vial into another slot in the machine, "An extraterrestrial material that gives off a particularly mutagenic radiation. Dr. Callaghan borrowed it from your friends at Area 51 while everyone else was distracted."
"Now, like I said, we're not really sure what's going to happen when we mix these things together," Enigma continued as he input some commands into a keypad on the machine. A few moments later, the lights inside of the gene resequencer began to glow red as the whole machine started to hum, causing Fred's heart to begin pounding in his chest as his breath quickened.
"But I'm sure the results will be a sight to see," Enigma finished as bolts of red energy suddenly shot out of the machine and struck Fred from every side, causing him to arch his back and scream in agony. The red light poured out of the small view window as Enigma watched Fred writhe in pain, his silhouette dark against the burning light.
In Home Base's meeting room, the gathered heroes sat quietly, watching the images that were being displayed on the screen at one end of the room, observing the overhead shot of Area 51 being attacked by the Underminer, his drilltank bursting out of the desert hardpan and firing off missiles at the encamped military, sending the soldiers running for cover as their equipment was destroyed in fiery explosions. The image then shifted to an interior hallway in the complex, with a group of a dozen or so soldiers pointing their automatic rifles at a heavy set of metal doors. A moment later, the doors exploded outward and the soldiers opened fire with their rifles, their bullets pinging uselessly against the wall of black microbots that came surging through the doorway. Moving with frightening speed, the mass of microbots shifted into a swarm of tendrils that slapped the soldiers out of the way, slamming them into the walls and smashing them against the floor, revealing Yokai standing at the center of the swarm in the process.
The footage then shifted to a different chamber, this one containing a sample of quantonium in a large, glass sphere which itself was held by a claw-like machine, the prongs of which seemed to be absorbing the bolts of blue energy that would occasionally shoot off the stone. As they watched, the doors burst open and Yokai rode in his mass of microbots, which he then sent swarming over the machine and used to quickly break it open like cracking an egg, allowing him to easily snatch the quantonium from within it.
"As you can see," General Monger said as his face suddenly appeared on screen, looking bruised and battered, "They knew exactly where the quantonium was and what kind of defenses we'd have protecting it."
"Did they target any other part of the facility?" Hiro questioned, his expression concerned, "Are the Boov okay?"
"The rest of the facility was untouched," Monger answered, "This was a large-scale smash and grab. They knew exactly what they wanted and were in and out within minutes."
"So, the kidnapping, the rescue mission, the undercover operation," Ramsbottom said as he rubbed his forehead in agitation, "It was all a distraction?"
"No, Enigma kidnapped Jack Jack for a reason," Bob insisted, "He was doing something to my son with that machine of his. It's just, he knew we would come for Jack Jack and used that to his advantage."
"He's outsmarted us at every turn," Megamind mused, crossing his arms and looking down at the table dejectedly, "And now he holds all the cards."
"And he has Fred," Riley added, her voice barely above a whisper.
A melancholy sadness fell over the room as everyone remembered their missing comrade.
"Oh no, we've hurt everyone," Sadness whimpered in Riley's head.
"I'm pretty sure everyone was already hurt," Joy sighed.
"How are the kid's parents doing?" Link questioned.
"They're both professionals, they're holding it together as best they can," Helen explained, her expression forlorn, "But I was just where they are now, so I know it's tearing them apart inside."
"So what are we going to do?" Go Go demanded, "We have to get Fred back."
"And how do you propose you go about doeeng that?" Gru spoke up from where he was sitting in the corner of the room, away from the table, "We have no idea where the Syndicate went or what they plan on doing weeth your friend. For all we know, tryeeng to save Fred weell just play into Eneegma's plans like everytheeng else."
"Really? You're the one who is going to say we should sit around and do nothing!?" Violet demanded as she jumped to her feet and glared at Gru, "When Fred's in danger in the first place because of you!"
"Violet, honey," Helen started to say as she put a hand on her daughter's arm to try and calm her.
"No, Mom!" Violet snapped as she yanked her arm free of her grasp, "You know it's true! It doesn't matter if it was all part of Enigma's plan, he's the one who kidnapped Jack Jack and he's the reason that Fred might be dead!"
"Please, everyone!" Ramsbottom called, raising a hand to draw attention to himself, "I know that we are in a fraught situation, but we cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves right now."
"You're right," Gru agreed as he stood up, wincing as he did, "Eet's better eef I'm not here. Thees is a team meeting, after all, and I think we all can agree that I'm not part of thees team."
With that, Gru turned from the group and left the room, and while a few of them looked uncomfortable with the way he was leaving, none of them went after him.
None except Agent Lucy Wilde.
"Hey!" Lucy called as she stepped out of the meeting room and spotted Gru slowly making his way down the hall, "Wait up!"
"You want to point out how badly I screwed up too?" Gru questioned as he looked over his shoulder as Lucy as she jogged up next to him.
"Look, if you screwed up, so did I," Lucy replied as she fell into step next to him, "And to be clear, we did screw up."
"Trust me, I know," Gru groaned as he pitched the bridge of his nose, "I played right eento hees hand. He got exactly what he wanted from me, and I'm left holdeeng the baig."
"Hey, we got the Parr kid back," Lucy reassured him as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "We'll get this one back too."
"Yeah, but een how many pieces?" Gru countered, and to this, the clearly uncomfortable Lucy could offer no argument.
A short while later, the remaining members of the Big Hero 9 were gathered in the part of the lab that Hiro had commandeered as his own. They sat and stood in a small circle, all with forlorn expressions on their faces, the overwhelming feeling of sadness threatening to drown Riley as she struggled to keep her powers under control.
"What are we going to do?" Honey questioned, removing her glasses so she could wipe the tears from her eyes.
"Nothing," Go Go replied as she balled her hands into fists, "We can't do anything!"
Gritting her teeth, Go Go slammed one of her fists onto the table, emphasising her frustration.
"This is my fault," Hiro sighed, his expression downcast, "I knew that those upgrades weren't tested enough. I should have never let him go on that mission."
"Fred is an adult human with full mental capacity," Baymax spoke up.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiro asked as he looked at the robot in confusion.
"You have no ability to control Fred," Baymax elaborated, his static expression unmoved by the glare Hiro immediately shot at him, "Fred is an autonomous being who made his own choices. Choices he would have been angry with you attempting to circumvent."
"When did you get so empathetic?" Riley questioned with a small smirk.
"Hiro has been experimenting with my emotion chip," Baymax explained as he tapped on his dataport and revealed that he now had four datachip slots, all of which were occupied, "We have not reached the point where I can fully experience my simulated emotions, but what I have felt is enough that I have begun understanding them in others."
"I'm starting to wish I hadn't done that," Hiro groused as he crossed his arms.
"Only because you know he's right," Wasabi commented, flexing the arm that sported a compression bandage as he spoke.
"Is your arm recovering well, Wasabi?" Baymax questioned as he turned his attention towards the young man.
"Yeah, the medical tech they have access to here is crazy," Wasabi answered, "I think I'll be right as rain in a few days."
"I feel like we've gotten off topic," Tip observed.
"Perhaps that is being good," Oh countered, "I am beings in agreement that there is very little we can be doing to help our good friend Fred, so it is betters than that we are speaking of other things, is it not?"
"But I don't buy that!" Go Go insisted, "Not really, at least! There has to be something we can do to help Fred!"
"But what can we do?" Wasabi argued, "We have no idea where the Syndicate are! And it's not like they're just going to announce their presence to us out of the blue!"
At that moment, a loud burst of static sounded over the loudspeakers that were wired throughout Home Base, causing every member of the group of young heroes to jump in surprise.
"...hear m-?" a voice was half heard through the bursts of static, prompting everyone to look at the loudspeaker.
"Can you hear me?" the voice repeated, and the familiar electronic tone caused Hiro's blood to run cold, "Am I coming through alright? Testing, testing, one, two, three. Is this thing on?"
"Oh my god," Riley whispered as everyone rose to their feet.
"Enigma," Hiro confirmed.
At that moment, Minion suddenly burst into the room, his eyes wild.
"Everyone, come with me, quick!" he declared as he beckoned for the group of young heroes to follow him.
"Minion, Enigma has hijacked the loudspeakers!" Hiro said as he approached the alien.
"He's got control of the video screens in central command, too!" Minion explained as he gestured for them to follow him again, "Come on!"
At this, Minion turned and rushed out of the room, prompting the group of heroes to quickly race after him.
"Judging from the readings I'm getting, all of you should be able to hear me," Enigma continued as the heroes ran through the concrete hallways, "Of course, you won't be able to talk to me unless you turn into the frequency I'm displaying on your screens right now. Don't leave me waiting, I know there is an urgent matter we all want to discuss."
At that point, the group reached central command, a large room at the heart of Home Base, with multiple rows of computer terminals all facing one side of the room, where multiple large screens had been built into the wall, all of which were displaying the hooded form of Enigma.
Glancing around, the group spotted the rest of their team gathered around one of the computer terminals, with Stan and Joan at the front. As the younger heroes approached, the technician on the terminal looked over his shoulder and nodded at Stan.
"This is Stanley Lieber," Stan said into the computer's microphone with a controlled, measured tone, "Can you hear me?"
"Ah, Stan," Enigma chuckled, his glowing red eye seeming to glare through the screen at them, "Just the man I was hoping to talk to."
"I need…" Stan began to say but paused as he took a moment to compose himself, though Riley could feel the anger, sadness and fear radiating off of him, "I need to know that my son is alive."
"Oh, you needn't worry about that," Enigma replied with a dismissive wave, "Your son is very much alive. You might even say he's better than ever."
"Please, I just…we need to speak with him," Joan pleaded, "We need to make sure he's alright."
"He's fine," Enigma countered, "Though I don't think he's in the mood for talking right now."
"Tell us what you want, damn you!" Stan shouted, his anger getting the best of him as he glared at Enigma's image, "I will pay you whatever you want! I will do whatever you want! Just give me back my son!"
"I don't need anything from you, old man," Enigma spat, and his faux friendliness disappeared in an instant, replaced by cold fury, "I've taken everything I've ever needed from you. You have no more left to offer me."
"Who are you?" Stan questioned, taken aback by Enigma's sudden change in tone, "You talk like we know each other. Like we have a history together."
"I can't believe you all haven't figured it out by now," Enigma replied with a sad shake of his head, "At this rate, I'm going to have to just tell you myself aren't I? The mysterious act is getting a little old, after all."
"Enough of your games!" Joan suddenly shouted, catching everyone off guard, "Where is my son!?"
"Alright, you want your kid back?" Enigma questioned, his voice now possessing a dangerous edge as he held up his mechanical arm and pushed a few buttons on it, "I'll give him back. But don't say I didn't warn you."
A moment later, a loud noise erupted from Enigma's side of the feed, and seconds after, alerts began going off in the control room.
"Seismic detectors have detected movement!" one of the computer technicians reported, "It looks like we have an incoming object from below Home Base!"
"Underminer," Bob muttered before he glared at Enigma's image and leaned towards the computer, "What the hell did you just do!?"
"Is that Bob Parr?" Enigma asked, clearly perking up as he spoke, "Mr. Incredible himself?"
"Who are you?" Bob questioned as he furrowed his brow, "Why do you act like you know us?"
"We have impact on the lowest level of Home Base!" one of the technicians reported, "No explosion detected!"
"Because I know everything about you," Enigma replied, "I know everything there is to know every single one of you. I might be an enigma to you, but you're all open books to me."
"We have security personnel moving to the impact site," another technician said.
"And I know you, best of all, Mr. Incredible," Enigma continued, his red eye seemingly making direct eye contact with Bob through the transmission.
Down in the bowels of Home Base, where the complex's geothermal generator and other utilities were housed, a group of half a dozen armed and armored men rushed through the halls, tense and on alert. Rounding a corner, they found a strange device sticking out of the floor in the boiler room, surrounded by chunks of concrete and other pieces of debris. The device had a large, conical drill at one end that was still slowly spinning, behind which the device continued into a metal tube, into which was built a heavy door.
"Me?" Bob asked, still not understanding, "Why me?"
"This is Team Leader," one of the men said into a microphone built into his helmet as he and the other men approached the device with weapons raised, "We have reached the impact location. The device looks like a missile with a drill attached to the front. We're approaching with caution to see if it is unexploded ordnance."
"It's always been you, Bob," Enigma answered as he pulled back his hood.
As the men cautiously approached the device, it suddenly let out a hiss of air, prompting them to freeze in place. While the men watched, the door on the device swung open, though the interior was unilluminated, revealing only darkness within.
On the screen in the control room, the heroes gasped in shock as they looked upon Enigma's face. He was a caucasian man with pale skin that was crisscrossed with scars that could only have come from burns. As anyone would have guessed, he had a glowing red cybernetic eye, the apparatus of which covered most of the right side of his face, including where his ear would have been. The lower part of his face was also covered in machinery, consisting of what looked like a breathing apparatus and an electronic voice box. The only part of him that was still flesh and blood was the upper left part of his face, consisting of a damaged ear, a bright blue eye and a few tufts of red hair.
For a long moment, the men stood pointing their guns at the open device in silence. Then, a low rumbling came from the darkness within it, a sound the men quickly realized was a terrible growl. As the growl grew louder and angrier, a single glowing eye appeared in the darkness, yellow, reptilian, and full of rage.
"After all," Enigma's electronic voice all but sneered, "I'm still your biggest fan."
A/N: Happy to finally get a new chapter out and reach this big climactic moment. A couple of you had already sussed out Enigma's true identity, to which I say great job! That just means I laid out the breadcrumbs correctly. Hoping to get a lot more published this year, so getting this out feels like a great start! As usual, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!