Story: Fata Morgana Coils of Hope, Fear, and Tragedy (all chapters)

[Author's notes: The first chapter to a story that I will finish no matter how long it takes. So that means anything else is on hold of course. Some self aware humor that I think is fitting of The Incredibles universe. No breaking the fourth wall or anything but they are aware of various superhero/villain tropes much in the line of Kim Possible.]

Dank, shadowy, abysmal, limited decor all in all it almost looked like the countless other villainous hideouts Mirage had infiltrated over the past four years since she began working for the N.S.A. One of the more notable exceptions were the strange glowing runes that seemed to adorn the entire hideout, she had been informed of the possibility of magic but she thought that was just Dicker being paranoid. Still though considering all she has seen over the years the revelation of magic didn’t faze her as much as the mechanized tyrannosaurus wearing a top hat. Suppressing the urge to giggle at the thought of Tronasaurus’ various attempts to wreak havoc Mirage took another picture of the runes using a camera hidden in her glove. She may have hated the bureaucracy of the National Supers Agency but she certainly loved the toys even if they weren’t quite as advanced as Syndrome’s they got the job done. Speaking of jobs her current assignment was unfortunately taking far too long, it couldn’t be helped however since there were too many unknowns even with her back up not far off Mirage had to take it slow. She had yet to encounter any guards or even another room, it seemed like this place was an endless hallway that merely led to another hallway and so on. The sound of the stone shifting interrupted her musings as two men dressed in what could have been dark brown robes emerged from a hidden panel in the wall. The problem with a constant series of hallways was there was very little room to hide and unlike a certain someone Mirage lacked any means of turning invisible. Weighing her options within the fraction of a second Mirage charged the duo hoping to catch them before they could react. Bringing her right knee up Mirage thrust her leg out into a powerful sidekick hitting the first man in his side and knocking him right into his companion. Literally pouncing upon the opportunity Mirage attacked the second man with a vicious blow to the head knocking him out. Before she could turn her attentions to the first man she noticed the chaotic sparks of electricity arcing their way out of the man she was on top of doing more damage to his companion than to Mirage.

“Uhh is that jumpsuit of yours insulated?” The man asked once he realized his attack had no effect. Mirage answered with a punch to his face.

Once she was sure the two men were incapacitated Mirage typed the passcode into her glove that would contact her backup. Not wanting to make the same mistake Helen did six years ago Mirage opted to use a soundless coded signal to communicate with Violet. The code went as follows; Mirage would send a signal to a device in Violet’s glove which would quietly vibrate. Should the coast be clear on Violet’s end she would communicate verbally, if the coast wasn’t clear Violet would signal back to Mirage. After a few seconds Mirage received the signal indicating things were not clear on Violet’s end. Cursing under her breath Mirage quietly stepped into the room the two men had emerged from.
Cabinets, cupboards, tables, all littered with scrolls and papers in a manner that suggested that these supposed cultists didn’t care much for organization. Unlike her Violet, but then again if they had to grow up with Bob and Dash’s various messes they might have developed a mild case of O.C.D. as well. Mirage suppressed another giggle as she tried to banish the various images of possible reactions Violet would have if she saw this mess.
‘Really Mirage.’ The spy thought to herself. ‘You should know better than to-‘ The faint sound of scuffling feet interrupted her reverie and within the span of a second she dropped the papers she had been going through and drew her primary pistol from its holster at the right side of her hip. Glaring down the iron sights of her laser pistol Mirage gazed at the terrifying sight of… a mouse waggling its whiskers at her.

‘Odd up until those two cultists appeared I haven’t seen any signs of life at all.’ The way the rodent stared at her was unnerving however, pointing her primary pistol at the rodent, she decided better safe than sorry. After all she had heard countless tales of a certain hairless mole rat having thwarted the bad guys, who’s to say the bad guys haven’t got one of their own? Before Mirage could even pull the trigger though the rodent leapt at her its body twisting, contorting, growing until it had adopted the form of one of the most dangerous creatures known. The form of man.

“Shifty…” Mirage hissed through gritted teeth as she struggled to free herself from Shifty’s elongated arm as it wrapped around her upper body pinning her arms to her sides. “I wasn’t aware you learned how to change your mass.”

“That’s not all thanks to the boss I can even make clothing out of my own skin now!”

“And yet you still choose to form that tacky suit? Really Shifty you look more like your about to go to some cubicle at a dead end office job. And with that haircut I’d say a cubicle at some insurance company.”

“Hey!” Shifty exclaimed evidently far more offended than Mirage had anticipated. “Chicks dig the suit! Speaking of suits I am digging the white body suit, had I known female agents of the N.S.A. dressed like this maybe I would of joined up with them.”

“Have.” Mirage corrected.

“Excuse me?”

“The correct way of saying that is “I would have joined up”. If you lived with the person I do you would learn to speak properly all the time too. Also this suit isn’t for you.” With that Mirage fell to the ground hoping to knock Shifty off balance. Although Mirage’s actions took him by surprise Shifty elongated his arm further to accommodate for Mirage’s actions. Still this leeway allowed more than enough room to bring her foot square between Shifty’s legs. Taking advantage of Shifty’s slackened grip Mirage immediately jumped back to her feet and drew her secondary pistol as well. As Mirage unleashed a barrage of laser fire at the rogue super, Shifty’s form flowed and slithered as he transformed into a serpent barely managing to avoid the worst of Mirage’s gunfire.

While Shifty slithered away from Mirage’s onslaught he weighed his options. Survival took precedence over his bosses’ fury and with that he shouted; “Arcaniss bex!” What followed was chaos as the walls, floor, and ceiling reconfigured.
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‘A mad man must have designed this place!’ Violet thought to herself as her quarry descended down yet another spiral stair case. She had followed this strange figure through what seemed like an infinite amount of corridors only to give way to one spiral stair case after another with only a brief hallway breaking up the monotony. The quarry was as far as she could tell unaware that she was following him, just to be sure Violet made sure as to avoid the worst of the cobwebs and dust that littered this infuriatingly dirty place. As amusing as the prospect of him turning around to see a seemingly floating web covering her invisible form she didn’t know what the man was capable of as such she refused to risk exposure. That and the idea of being covered in a dirty cobweb nearly mad her gag, she couldn’t begin to imagine how much it would distract her in a fight. Plus she could just hear the endless lecture her mother would give her; “That was a mission missy not a picnic!” or “I knew partnering you up with Mirage was a bad idea, she never takes anything seriously and her bad influence is affecting you now!”

“Sounds like your mother is quite the fussy lady.”

“…Oh crap you can read minds.” Violet stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her quarry turned around allowing Violet to finally not see the face of the man she had been shadowing. The tall, lanky man opted to wear a flowing, immaculate, white robe seemingly unmarred by the sea of dust and debris of the hallways the two had traveled through. Hiding his face was an equally clean white helmet with a crest that curved upwards from the top not unlike certain exotic birds. The only blemish on the helmet was a glowing circle on the face plate which Violet assumed was the man’s eyes. Briefly contemplating how well one could see in such an object, and strongly hoping that his ability to read minds couldn’t give away her exact location, Violet unleashed a wave of force upon her opponent sending him careening over the railing of the spiral staircase.

“Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! I just meant to knock him down! That shouldn’t have been enough to push him that far!” Violet nearly screamed as she frantically ran to the railing. Hesitating for a brief moment before tentatively looking over the edge the sight that greeted Violet was at once very nauseating, slightly comforting, and incredibly worrisome. Despite falling nearly sixty feet the man had gotten up and if the sickening cracking and squelching sounds were any indication he was popping his shattered limbs into their rightful places. “You can regenerate too?!”

After a brief but futile attempt at cleaning his bloodstained robe the man looked upward. “Looks like you really can’t control yourself can you my dear?” The man calmly stated as he walked out of Violet’s sight.

“He’s just trying to mess with me.” Violet whispered to herself as she tried to calm her rapidly fraying nerves. “Okay I can do this.”

And with a great heave Violet hurled herself over the railing. Concentrating just like she first did with Mirage a few weeks ago, Violet created a form fitting force field around her body and closed her eyes as the ground rapidly approached. She expected the brief pang of mental anguish that occurred whenever her force field was struck by something large, but what she didn’t expect was for her force field to still be intact let alone the fact that she was still standing. “Looks like all those “training” sessions with Mirage paid off.” The young super said with a wry smile as a blush graced her features. Before Violet could celebrate her little victory a tremor that shook though the entire complex signaling that both the stair well she was in and the adjacent hallway had begun to collapse. “Of course they have a ceiling crushing trap as well!” Violet shouted in frustration as she ran down the ever narrowing hallway.
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“Well now this is certainly getting interesting…” Mirage had chased Shifty out into the jungle and was alive and well despite the efforts of the various bits of shifting hallway that just tried to put a premature end to her life. Now though it seemed Shifty had a few more tricks up his sleeve as he had taken the form of a large t-rex like creature with three heads. Despite Shifty’s newfound prowess with his shape shifting the creature that Mirage gazed upon now looked like it was only tenuously held together with webs of brown flesh and scales barely holding its exposed musculature together. “The problem with that form is you give me one hell of a target!” Mirage then unleashed three blasts of laser fire from her pistols but for each blast that found its mark the flesh bubbled briefly before another monstrous dino head erupted forth.

“Fool I AM the most powerful crook ever!” All six of Shifty’s heads roared in unison.

“Most interesting. Well Shifty I must say I am impressed.” Despite her bravado Mirage was desperately trying to think of a way to defeat this behemoth while she dodged its various snapping maws, Mirage dove underneath Shifty only to be kicked aside. Thankfully the mutated monstrosity’s legs were not exactly made for kicking and although Mirage was winded nothing appeared to be broken. “All things considered I think I’d rather get kicked than listen to his…” It dawned on Mirage that if a head sprouted wherever she shot than maybe… “Okay Shifty you’re not the only one with a few tricks!”
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Just when she thought her lungs would give out and sparing an idle thought as to where the hell the robed man was she leapt out of the hallway and into a large chamber just as the hallway completely collapsed behind her. While Violet attempted to catch her breath she tapped the hidden button in her glove signaling Mirage.

“Invisigirl you okay?” The question was punctuated by grunts, laser fire and the general sounds of combat.

“Yeah, relatively speaking anyway… so what’s going on with you?” Violet said hoping Mirage could hear her over her haggard breathing.

“Oh you know the- will you stop doing that!” Violet could hear a frustrated grunt followed by a loud roar. “Sorry about that Shifty lured me outside so he could have enough room to transform into some giant t-rex thing that keeps sprouting more heads. Anyway you- damn that was close. You remember the code phrase?”

“Yup.” A few years back the N.S.A. came up with various code phrases for their teams just in case a shape shifter like Shifty tried to infiltrate them. An idea initiated by her brother of all people needless to say everyone was both surprised and impressed by his foresight.

“Good I’ll talk to you later this shouldn’t take long.” And with that Violet was left with radio silence.

Briefly looking around the chamber for anything suspicious and finding nothing other than the colossal, stone double doors Violet decided to bite the bullet and go over to them. The stone doors each depicted scenes of destruction being perpetuated by terrible creatures borne of nightmares. Despite the rampant destruction and slaughter presented there were still people depicted as bent down in worship of these beings. “Okay things are getting really creepy here I mean seriously who would worship those things?” As if to respond to the super’s query the double doors grinded open revealing room that was a mix between library, science lab, and throne room. The same woeful décor of cobwebs and dust permeated the room like all the others before it. Chemical beakers filled with liquids that Violet dare not contemplate sat side by side with what she assumed were tomes of arcane lore. However the nauseating smell emanating from the various beakers and tubes took a back seat to the grey robed figure that abruptly stood up from the throne at the far end of the room. One might have been drawn to how out of place her grey robes where, that might be the case had Violet not encountered a robed meta human prior to this encounter. Or one might find it odd that the sclera of the robed woman’s eyes were pitch black however this did little to unnerve the young super. No the thing that Violet found most disturbing was the fact that the robed woman shared her face. Normally round cheeks and shy smile hardened into a scowl, jet black hair spilling over to cover half her face just like Violet herself wore her hair all those years ago. The being exuded an aura of spite and hatred so great that Violet was forced to take a step back and struggle for breath as the other woman’s aura seemingly drained the very oxygen from the room.

“Clone or alternate universe?”

“Take a guess!” The robed woman snarled as she raised her hand and unleashed a volley of energy beams.

[End notes: Feel free to let me know what ya think. Halfway through the second chapter so hopefully things won't take to much longer. And since I posted this on ff.net first the next chapter is coming here first.]

Chapter 2

[Author's notes: Finished this chapter sooner than expected and as promised Deviant Hearts will get it first for a few days.]

Violet Parr had experienced relatively few instances where her force fields could not protect her. The first time with the plane was due to her fear. The second time against the Omni-droid was primarily due to her inexperience fighting such adversaries. The third time she was under sustained assault and protecting an entire theme park. But even under those circumstances, where her powers failed, her super suit or friends and family protected her. Now however she was alone facing an opponent capable of piercing both her force fields and her super suit. The blood seeping from the gash in her arm mingled perfectly with the red of her suit but clashed furiously with the black. Weighing her options Violet figured if her force fields couldn’t protect her maybe a more direct application was necessary. Extending her arm Violet created a form fitting force field around her doppelganger unlike the malleable one she had used on herself however, she had made this one far more restrictive. The young woman didn’t want to take any chances with a mage so not only could her counterpart not move her arms, she couldn’t even move her jaw.

“Evil cultists, magic, and an alternate me, just what the hell is going on?” Knowing that the figure encased in her force field couldn’t possibly respond to her rhetorical question it came as a bit of a shock when she heard a response anyway, followed by a sharp pain in her neck. Upon feeling the pain Violet immediately concentrated on forming a solid wall of force behind her and pushed it in the direction of her adversary. A grunt of pain told the young super that her attack had found purchase, quickly sparing a glance up at where her containment force field should have had her restrained double she saw that it was in fact empty. Quickly placing her hand to her neck while she turned to face her alternate self, Violet’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the empty syringe in her doppelganger’s hand, various scenarios playing through her mind in moments each more horrible than the last. “W-what did you do to me?” Violet said hoping the light headedness was just her over active imagination.

“An experiment.” The doppelganger said as she untangled herself from the chair she was thrown into, seemingly oblivious to the various beakers and tubes spilling their contents onto her robe. “And yes that was an illusion you had trapped, not exactly my forte but it got the job done.” Violet tried to concentrate on her double’s monologue hoping that she would give up some valuable information as these villains always do, but the nausea she was currently experiencing was making it quite difficult to stand let alone listen. “You see I came from a world where you were too weak to protect her… too weak to protect anyone.” The double than grabbed Violet cupping her face in her hands, and while Violet was glad she had something steadying her the depths of madness she saw in her double’s eyes quickly dissolved anything even resembling confidence. “But everything is going to be okay you will see, everything will be all better soon.”

Violet tried to keep standing. She did not want to be left at the mercy of this thing’s insanity, despite being in no condition to defend herself, alas as soon as her double released her darkness enveloped Violet before she even hit the ground.

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Mirage had always subscribed to the view that skill and finesse could outmatch brute strength any day of the week. Her battle with Shifty did nothing but reinforce this mindset. The super spy had no idea why Shifty’s shape shifting power was currently so unstable, but then again so long as it continued to work to her advantage she didn’t much care. While Shifty’s bulk in his monstrous tyrannosaurus rex form gave him the initial advantage, Mirage quickly deduced that since where ever she shot him another rex head would appear all she had to do was repeatedly shoot him in the legs. And so far her theory had proven correct, for every failed lunge that Shifty attempted Mirage would shoot him in the legs, and for every shot to the legs another head would sprout. This kept going until Shifty had so many dino heads growing from his legs that could longer bend his knees let alone attack Mirage, and with a resounding boom Shifty’s monstrous form came crashing down. “Greatest crook ever huh?” Mirage snidely asked as she leveled one of her pistols at the horror’s snout.

“Please… don’t it hurts, everything hurts…” Having a mutant t-rex beg for pity would probably give anyone pause, out of shock if nothing else. Unfortunately for Shifty since he had been trying to eat the super spy alive a few moments prior so Mirage was fresh out of pity for his “plight”.

“If you don’t want to see how many heads I can make you grow start talking. You know the usual; why are you here? What your evil plan is. The works.”

“I do believe you may not have time for that.” Mirage without taking her eyes off of Shifty immediately pointed her secondary pistol at what she believed was the head of the person who spoke. “I see you are indeed not just a pretty face, able to target me using the sound of my voice and my reflection off of Shifty’s eyes.”

“Let’s keep this simple as I am beginning to run out of patience…”

“The Fairy Morgana that is the code phrase should you and Invisigirl encounter a shape shifter, correct? Is it not a little obvious?” Genuinely startled and beginning to worry for Violet’s safety, Mirage started to back up so that she could keep both the newcomer and Shifty in her sight. The newcomer seemingly aware of her intentions calmly strode into view, revealing a man in a tattered robe its formerly immaculate white marred by stains of blood. His bizarrely covered head cocked to the side briefly as if in amusement. “The blood is not Invisgirl’s, but there is indeed need for worry.”

“If you did…” A raised hand cut off any threat Mirage was about to make in response to the man’s cryptic words.

“Please Miss Mirage you are in no position to make threats. For that matter there is also no need, for I propose a trade.” The man then gestured toward the passage that both Shifty and herself had used to escape from the collapsing ceiling. “The complex, thanks to my companion’s poor judgment has reconfigured, that passage will take you directly to Invisigirl and while you retrieve her I can tend to Shifty. And although I know there is almost no point it saying this you can trust me in this particular instance.”

“Dammit.” Mirage swore under her breath as she ran towards the passage hoping that Violet was okay and that she wasn’t running head first into a trap.
After watching Mirage quickly retreat back into the complex the robed man turned to Shifty who had slowly and painfully begun to regress into something that almost resembled a humanoid form. “My my, Shifty just what are we going to do with you?”

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Violet hated being sick, and not simply because being sick usual meant the leaking of various fluids. No, the thing that Violet hated most about being sick was that she couldn’t push herself too hard with physical activity and that equated, in her mind at least, with being static. The young super never wanted to simply sit back and let events unfold around her, no, after the events of Nomanisan Island Violet always wanted to either be there when events unfold or help cause them. A sentiment that on more than one occasion clashed with her hatred of unnecessary messes but no one was perfect. Needless to say waking up in a hospital room was somewhat disheartening although considering her previous situation it was an improvement. Looking around the sterile white room at all the high tech equipment, far too high tech for a mere hospital, equipment that she herself had helped either move or assemble further eased the tension that was rising. Dr. Sunbright, it was one of the hospital rooms of the man who had delivered her and her brothers when they were born. Often he was called by the N.S.A. or suppers themselves when they needed a doctor more accustomed to the more fantastic needs of supers. All these thoughts of course faded into the background when she noticed the platinum blonde in the white spy suit standing in the doorway with a concerned look on her face.

“How are you feeling Vi?” Mirage tentatively asked as she moved closer to Violet’s bed.

“Wait!” Violet nearly screamed as the nausea and memories of what happened returned. “I was injected with something. I-I don’t know what it was I…”

“Vi it’s okay, you’re going to be okay.” Mirage said as she placed a hand on Violet’s cheek. “Dr. Sunbright was able to figure out what you were injected with some form of the alien virus from a few years back. From he could tell the virus has undergone some mutations and he wants to keep you under observation, but you’re not contagious and you are certainly not going to grow a second head or anything.” Much to Mirage’s delight and relief that last bit caused her girlfriend to laugh.

“A pity, there would be twice of me to annoy Dash with.” As if on cue a sudden gust of wind announced her brother’s entrance into the room. It never ceased to amaze Violet how much one could grow as person while still simply looking like a taller version of when they were younger. For all the patience and foresight he gained throughout his teenage years, Speedy a.k.a. Dash Parr was still quite recognizable with his red and black Incredible suit and slicked back blonde hair.

“HeyVioletyouokayIcameassoonasIheardDocsaidyouweresickbutnotcontagioussoyoualrightohheyMirage!” Then again maybe he didn’t change too much. Violet merely shook her head in bemused silence as her brother caught his breath.

Recovering from her fit of giggles Mirage was the first to answer. “Yes Dash Violet is fine just a little sick and yes she isn’t contagious.”

“Yup, apparently I got hit with a dose of that alien virus.”

“The one that boosted our powers a few years back?!” Dash asked incredulously to which Violet simply nodded enjoying the frustration and disbelief playing across her brother’s face. “That is SO unfair!”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Dash…” Mirage took a deep breath before she continued hoping for once that she wasn’t going to be walking away from the coming encounter with a bruise. Then again their rapport with each other had been steadily improving the more they worked together. “Is your mother you know…?”

“Mad at you?” He finished for her to which the super spy simply nodded. “Nope.”

“Really?!” Both Mirage and Violet said in unison.

“Yeah I was surprised too but apparently she was more pissed off at Uncle Rick and the National Supers Agency for splitting us up for these missions anyway. So no worries about being slapped or anything.”

“Mom’s been getting along with Mirage a lot better over the past few years, besides I had a nice long talk with her about it a few months ago.” Violet said calmly before groaning a little and turning a slight shade of green before calming once again.

Mirage handed Violet a glass of water that had been sitting on the nearby table, and after Violet had taken a sip the super spy voiced her concern. “Everything’s okay then?”

“Yeah…” Violet said before a wry smile appeared on her lips. “Only one piece of furniture was destroyed during the conversation.”

“What!?” It was Mirage and Dash’s turn to speak in unison this time.

“I got you guys this time.”

“Anyway…” Dash continued hoping his sister was in fact just kidding. “Can we please go back to the whole you having souped up super powers thing?”

“I am afraid it may be a bit more complicated than that bubbeleh.” A voice said from the doorway. Turning toward the doorway revealed that both Mr. and Mrs. Parr, also still in their red and black super suits, had been joined by the diminutive form of Doctor Sunbright himself. However before the good doctor could continue he was interrupted by a green faced Violet flailing her arms violently.

“I got it!” Helen shouted as she stretched her arms to grab the small garbage bin and bring it to her daughters.

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In a dark room, hidden within a forgotten city, underneath a remote island somewhere in the Antarctic, a lone woman gazed at a swirling mass of colors floating above a pedestal. The pedestal although made of marble and crafted to remind one of Auguste Rodin’s “The Gates of Hell”, was relatively unimportant. No what was important to the lone woman still draped in her torn and stained grey robe was the cacophony of colors that to most would hold little meaning. To those savvy to such things the chaotic mass of colors vaguely forming a swirl would be more important than thousands of lives. But of all the colors dancing across her vision one in particular, a small almost unnoticeable blood red stain was far more important than the others.

“Veral…” The alternate Violet turned upon hearing her name. Having long since abandoned her birth name she took solace in being called by her new one. It certainly helped distance herself from her- no they weren’t her failures, they were Violet’s and she would pay for her incompetence. Looking over her longtime ally she noted that he had yet to change out of his blood stained robes either, nor had he taken off his mask, but then again that was expected at this point.

“Grigori are you sure you don’t want to rest or change first?”

“No.” Grigori than purposely strode over to the pedestal gazing at the colors, the telepath’s helmet hiding any thoughts that his face might betray. “I am more concerned about you, seeing the Violet of this universe couldn’t have been easy let alone seeing Mir…”

“She’s naïve and weak.” Veral sharply stated cutting off her companion.

Sighing Grigori briefly considered holding his tongue lest he further infuriate his friend, but all things considered this information was too urgent not to bring to Veral’s attention. “I have some unfortunate news… Phage has entered this universe as well.”

“What is he doing here?” Veral did nothing to hide the growing rage within her.

“Aside from giving every telepath within one hundred thousand light years a migraine when he entered this universe, he doesn’t appear to be causing too much trouble. From what I’ve managed to gather he is merely lying dormant for now although his influence may spark a minor war or two somewhere in the world.”

Veral weighed her options; Phage was an annoyance but not one that caught her unaware. An instigator of conflict if there ever was one Phage despised anything that was static. It wouldn’t be long before Phage grew bored and decided to interfere.

“Would you like me to leak this information to the N.S.A.?”

“No leak it to Global Justice. I’d rather have the N.S.A. and The Incredibles focused on us while Global Justice can hinder whatever it is that Phage is ultimately planning.”

“As you wish.” Grigori said with a slight bow. “Is there anything else?”

“Yes… how’s Shifty?”

“He is recovering, we gave him a dose of the virus that you gave to Violet so hopefully when he is one hundred percent again he will be even stronger.”

“Thank you, you are dismissed Grigori.” As her companion left the room Veral turned her gaze back to the pedestal of swirling colors. It took her a moment to find Phage’s influence a small golden light almost insignificant in the Aether of magic that overlapped the Milky Way. “Phage for once you and I might just have a common goal, pity we don’t have common patrons.”
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Cleaning the mess Violet had made all over her mother’s fore arms, heedless of whether or not it got on his lab coat Doctor Sunbright continued. “So you see while it looks as though the virus is similar at glance it is quite different now from when I was studying it all those years ago.”

“So what’s the worst case scenario Doc?” Bob Parr asked nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot. Despite his tremendous strength and heroic disposition when all was said and done he was still a father worried for his only daughter’s well-being.

Doctor Sunbright shrugged as if this situation was the stuff of everyday for him, since it in fact was. “The worst case scenario is highly unlikely so I really think there is no need to worry about it.”

Helen brought herself down to the diminutive man’s eye level and firmly but softly asked; “Doctor… please?”
Dr. Sunbright sighed before finishing up his cleaning of Helen’s arms. “As you all know Violet’s powers, unlike the rest of the family, barring Jack-Jack, Violet’s powers are based off of her mental faculties rather than the physical. Too much stress to her force fields and it can overload Violet’s brain and render her unconscious. The altered virus has seemingly mutated Violet’s entire nervous system to compensate for this deficiency, allowing Violet to once again use her force fields with greater intensity and allow for a much broader use in offense.”

“You haven’t mentioned how this might be dangerous for my daughter.” Bob stated slightly annoyed to be led on like this.

“A yes my apologizes bubbeleh. You see while the virus seems to have given a useful mutation her nervous system has yet to acclimate to it. Should Violet use her force fields before her body is completely ready she runs the risk of coma… or death.”

“Garbage please!” Violet demanded as the color left her face again. As Mirage handed it to her this time and Bob looking like he would need his own garbage bin soon, Helen took the opportunity to add her two cents.

“So it’s simple Violet won’t go on anymore missions until she is capable and she will even stay her so you can run whatever tests you need sound good?”

“Mom I can make these decisions myself!” Violet whined reminding everyone in the room of when she was younger.

“She knows that sweetie, she’s just worried like the rest of us.” Mirage then handed Violet the glass of water again.

“But this doesn’t make any sense.” Dash pointed out his face uncharacteristically serious. “Why would the bad guys go through the trouble of powering up one of the good guys?”

“A test run perhaps?” Bob put forth as he ran his hand through his hair. “Test it out on someone else before they risk it on their own?”

“Well… the alternate me said…” Before Violet could continue everyone immediately stopped what they were doing.

“Alternate you?”

[End notes: Not much romantic stuff going on between Violet and Mirage this chapter hopefully I'll make it a bit more lovey dovey later.]

Chapter 3

[Author's notes: AUTHOR’S NOTE: Okay this is where the story is going to start to take a darker turn. I’ll try to keep some humor in here where I can so long as it doesn’t take away from the tone of the story. Also I don’t care what anyone says Mirage has one helluva a sexy accent.]

Ricker Dicker let out a heavy sigh as he walked out of the research lab of the National Supers Agency. His plain grey suit and apparent agitated demeanor almost seemed at odds with the young faces desperately trying to come up with devices to protect civilians from the ever constant threat of rogue supers. Those types of scientists, researchers, and engineers where both a blessing and a curse as far as he was concerned, while their drive could craft miracles, they ran the risk of losing their humanity to their ambition. Then again so do we all. Human fault that was the ultimate subject that everything in his line of work seemed to boil down to, for example what could it take to turn a young super who held such promise into a villain? It was a simple question that had the entirety of the N.S.A. scrambling for an answer. Not three weeks ago Violet Parr, a young woman who had long since grown into her role as protector and hero, had told her family, Mirage, and Doctor Sunbright of her encounter with an alternate version of herself. If what Violet said turned out to be true, and in Dicker’s experience the crazier something sounded the more likely it was true, than the compromise of sensitive information was almost a certainty. And even if it wasn’t truly an alternate Violet and merely a clone or another shapeshifter, well those prospects presented their own series of problems. There were times where he would have liked to say that he missed the good ol’ days. The days where incompetent evil masterminds came up with convoluted plans to do something that would ultimately have no tangible effect on anyone but their arch nemesis, and would eventually fail due to some obvious blunder that could have easily been rectified with a little more patience. Now he had to deal with super-villians and evil masterminds whose machinations could be classified as war crimes. From people who would attempt to subtly influence the world’s populace by drugging food supplies, to the more straight forward psychopaths who merely want to open up gates to some unspeakable un-reality flooding the world with horrors born of nightmare. He wanted to say he missed the good ol’ days, but the truth is those things existed back then too the difference was that he was simply ignorant of them. The old adage of ignorance being bliss came to mind, but if everyone was ignorant there would be no heroes.

Lost in his musings Rick almost failed to notice the young man who had been walking beside him through the sterile halls of the N.S.A. “Xander, are you just going to follow me or do you need something?”

“Sorry Mr. Dicker. You just looked like you were deep in thought and I didn’t want to disturb you until well…”

Rick quietly regarded the young man, his face failing to betray any annoyance he may or may not have felt. If Xander’s dirty green lab coat and disheveled blonde hair were any indication he was up all night working. “When was the last time you got some sleep son?”

“A few days ago.” Xander stated oblivious as to why such a question may be important. “I’ve been working on some exciting new pieces of equipment and while I was working on the hover board my spatial monitor went off again.”

“Are you sure?”

Xander almost looked hurt at the question. “My instruments are always accurate. There were three major time/space distortions within the span of two months. I think Violet may be right we may have visitors from another universe here.”

“All right then. Do you think you could pin point where or when these distortions took…” The sound of two people arguing rather loudly cut off any request he was about to make. “We will continue this after I go see who is antagonizing Violet about Mirage today.”

“Maybe I should go with you this time.”

Rick thought it over briefly before nodding his agreement. Xander’s presence would hopefully act as a reminder to his fellow agents that reform was possible. Although in Xander’s case he did not do anything illegal he merely came from a family of super-villians. Mirage’s situation was a little trickier, although she didn’t kill anyone herself she was an accessory to dozens of murders and despite her “recruitment” into the N.S.A. many felt more drastic actions should have been taken. Turning a corner revealed the location of the budding conflict. Violet dressed in her civilian clothes was arguing with a senior agent near the elevators. The agents who had better things to do opted to give the arguing pair a wide berth as they either left or proceeded to use the elevators. “Agent Samson is there a problem?” Rick asked his tone completely neutral. Samson was the type of person who had never had an original thought in his entire life. A zealous man who believed that as long as one followed The System everything would work out in the end. He seemed utterly incapable of understanding that although The System was great for most contingencies humans were more often than not complex creatures that required creative thinking.

“No Rick I was just reminding Miss Parr here why her girlfriend belongs in prison.”

“That’s not fair!” Although her tone was controlled every word betrayed the building rage within the young woman. Rick could only imagine what Samson might have said before he showed up to have gotten Violet into such a state. “Since Mirage joined the N.S.A. she’s saved countless lives surely that means something.”

“She didn’t join the N.S.A. she was forced to work for us or she would have been put away for life. And quite frankly I feel as though her usefulness has ended so I’m going to present the board of directors with a proposal detailing why we should put her away. Furthermore…”

“Hey now that isn’t entirely fair.” Xander said deciding to put his two cents in. “I come from a family of villians and yet the N.S.A. has trusted me enough to make all sorts of high tech devices. Heck Larry was a villainous henchman and now he leads his own squad of former villians. A whole squad of former villians fighting for truth and justice!”

Rick took this moment to interrupt. “Agent Samson are you aware why Mirage joined up with Syndrome in the first place?”

“I’m sure she has a very convincing sob story but whatever it is it’s no excuse for being an accessory in dozens of murders.”

“Of course it isn’t an excuse but her sob story as you put is why she isn’t locked up right now.” Before Samson could interrupt Dicker held up his hand silencing his fellow agent at once. “When Mirage was a little girl her parents got caught in a battle between a super known as HedgePhase and the villian Morning Gloria. HedgePhase could create and control any plants in the vicinity so long as there was some amount of organic matter. During the battle HedgePhase got desperate and started using civilians as the organic matter necessary for his powers to work. Could you imagine being a little girl looking on in horror as a plant erupted from your mother and father’s bodies? So yes what Mirage did when she worked for Syndrome is truly terrible and there is no excuse for her actions but in a way we are responsible for her joining Syndrome in the first place. We failed to hold HedgePhase accountable for his actions.”

“So what?!” Samson demanded. “We do the same thing with Mirage and refuse to hold her accountable?”

“No.” Agent Dicker plainly stated. “We place a truly repentant individual where she can do the most good instead of having her rot in a cell and letting her talents go to waste.”

Although Agent Samson was silent his expression was that of a man who knew when he was defeated.

“Uncle Rick, Xander, thank you.” Violet solemnly said.

“Go home Violet the higher ups would rather you have some more downtime anyway make sure your powers are a little more stable.”

“…I’ll go give the proposal another look.” Agent Samson said as he walked away from the group. Once he was far enough away that he deemed it safe to do so “Agent Samson” quieted his turbulent mind. “Did you get all that Grigori?”

“Yes I did, and you are aware that my telepathy only affects those that I wish it to. You need not worry that others may hear our conversation Shifty.”

“Uhh well.”

“Do not worry about it we acquired more information than we needed.”

“So are we still gonna try to get Mirage thrown in jail?”

“Feeling a tad sympathetic are you Shifty?”

“Well…”

“Remember what we stand against we do not have the luxury of regret. We will not be attempting to have Mirage incarcerated. Instead we will locate this HedgePhase and “recruit” him to our cause.”

Mirage sat on the sofa that she and Violet picked out in the apartment that the government had issued her. The sofa like most of the furniture that came with the apartment was drab, practical and boring. While the practical part was fine Mirage preferred to have an apartment that didn’t scream; “You are only living here because the government controls nearly every aspect of your life!” Thankfully when Violet moved in she had agreed with Mirage that they needed new livelier furniture that more easily expressed who they were. Despite the various changes that were made, Mirage felt that the changes themselves were a constant reminder of her servitude to the N.S.A. and just added to her growing frustration lately. If that wasn’t enough she had been somewhat preoccupied with the idea of the alternate universe since the events that occurred three weeks ago. Did it have an alternate her? Was Violet her partner in that world too? Where her parents alive? Would they… approve of the choices that their daughter had made? It was doubtful her parents would have approved of her joining up with Syndrome even if they understood her reasons. But would they have approved of Mirage taking Violet as her partner? Yes, partner, they’ve only been together for a few years but the word “lover” didn’t seem to resonate with the bond they shared. Ultimately, maybe all these questions didn’t matter she and Violet were together in this universe here and now and if this alternate Violet was a threat to that, well she would regret it. So lost was Mirage in her thoughts she had failed to notice a disembodied purple shirt and pair of black pants slink through their apartment door.

“I can smell your perfume Vi.”

“Aww, can’t you be surprised for me?” Violet asked in mock dejection.

Mirage giggled enjoying the comfort of her partner’s familiar antics. When on a mission or fighting crime Violet may take part in the banter some heroes where known for, but only when she was alone with Mirage did Vi let out her pouty yet playful side. “Sorry Vi, next time I’ll be sure to exclaim my surprise in a southern belle accent, how about that?”

Violet shook her head as she proceeded to cuddle up next to Mirage. “Your southern belle accent sucks, besides I like your natural voice much better. It makes almost everything you say sexy.”

“Really, what about this? Hello board of directors of the N.S.A. I’ve unleashed a swarm of baboons to defecate upon each of your respective houses good day. Did that sound sexy Vi?” Mirage noticed how Violet’s expression quickly became somber at the mention of the N.S.A. “Relax Vi, besides where would I get a swarm of baboons.”

“There was an agent at HQ. He was going to bring a proposal over to the board of directors calling for you arrest.”

“Oh?” Mirage tentatively asked hoping her voice didn’t sound too worried. “What happened?”

“Uncle Rick, and Xander, and I talked him down. It doesn’t look like he’s going to pursue it.”

“That’s good then, nothing new but good news none the less.”

“Wait!” Violet said as she adjusted herself so that she was face to face with her girlfriend. “What do you mean it is nothing new?”

“I didn’t want to worry you besides most of it occurred before we started dating anyway.” Mirage said in what she hoped was her most nonchalant voice.

“Most of what?”

The older woman let out a heavy sigh she figured it would probably be best to get it all out in the open anyway. “Every few months since I began working at the National Supers Agency someone would come along with a proposal to have me incarcerated or worse. Then someone would remind everyone else I was still useful and they would just send me on a suicide mission. They figured at best I would be performing my government appointed duties at worst well…”

“This isn’t right.” Violet said tears threatening to fall as they did every time the subject of Mirage’s past were brought up. “If things were different if the N.S.A. had done a better job, if HedgePhase hadn’t killed your parents in the first place!”

“All the “ifs” in the world couldn’t fill the graves of the people who I helped kill.” Mirage said her voice cracking. “I made my choice Vi and I have to live with the nightmares. I do regret it though. But at the same time I’m glad it was you and your father who showed me I was wrong. You two showed me not all supers are bad.”

“I wish I could have changed things somehow you know?”

“I know Vi, you’re a real hero you know that?”

“Thanks.” Violet sheepishly said as her face lit up in a blush. “I love you Mirage, no matter what happens please never doubt that.”

“I won’t and I love you too.” With that Mirage pulled Violet into a hug and took comfort in the warmth and scent of her body.

In the dark bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Parr with only a faint beam of moon light providing any form of illumination. Helen lay awake staring at the ceiling hoping that by some miracle sleep would come as easily to her as it seemed to always come to her husband. As a super her entire life had been turbulent to put it mildly, and that was before she got married and gave birth to three super powered children. By no means did she regret any of it, from giving birth to Jack-Jack while her husband and daughter held off a mob of supervillians to the time she and Mirage confronted her villainous ex-boyfriend Xerek. Every day was another adventure with those she loved. But the revelations of the past three weeks had added a whole new obstacle to overcome. If what her daughter said was true than there was a Violet Parr from an alternate universe acting against them. If need be could she do it? Could she fight her own daughter even if it wasn’t her Violet?

Veral let out a growl of frustration as she walked the crumbling hallways of the chambers she had dubbed the barracks. There were far too few acolytes to join her cause, far too few mages in this world. A side effect of a world that hadn’t given itself over to fell forces no doubt, a world where there was no perverse corruption turning the populace into depraved maniacs willing to do anything for a sexual high. The thought of her old world and what that corruption caused her family to do to her beloved, threatened to send her into a rage. They paid for their sins in blood and souls as will this world before the same corruption takes hold as it undoubtedly will. But first they need more pawns to act as fodder and then there was the Violet of this world, she needed to sculpt the Violet of this world into a suitable sacrifice lest her masters take back the power they gave her in the first place.

“Veral.” Grigori’s voice rang through her mind as if he were standing right next to her.

“You have good news I trust?”

“Yes.” Grigori made sure to choose his next words very carefully. “As it turns out the Mirage of this universe was not the saint she was in our universe.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, a super named HedgePhase killed her parents, so she grew up hating supers for most of her life. She also briefly worked for this universe’s Syndrome.”

“Good job Grigori, this is all information we can use. Do you have any idea where this HedgePhase is?”

“Unfortunately no. My apologizes Veral.”

“It’s okay I know someone who would know. Edna Mode we will see if this universe’s version of her is the same as ours was. Tell Shifty to discontinue his infiltration of the N.S.A. so that we may have our full strength when we assault Edna’s compound.”

“An assault? Are you sure?”

“Yes I want the denizens of this world to know the price of depravity and see the eyes of those who lost everything to the vile acts of others. This world will know our pain!”

[End notes: ENDING NOTE: I wanted to give Mirage a really messed up back story. I figured that even though Mirage switched sides in the movie and was a member of the N.S.A. in the comics it would take something truly tragic to make her a really sympathetic character.]

Chapter 4

[Author's notes: AUTHOR’S NOTE; Okay a few things since I have made several references to The Incredibles comics and it is understandable if there are people who haven’t even heard that there were comics for the Incredibles. First off in the comic arc City of Incredibles the family does get briefly powered up and Violet gains a continuous purple aura.(I was also a little disappointed that even in the comics Violet needed saving a lot glad Helen and Mirage brought the girl power and Disney Infinity made Violet a badass)

Xerek was also a villain in the comics but he plays no role in this story other than a brief mention. Also in the previous chapter I mentioned a villain Morning Gloria. It is actually Snoring Gloria but I’m not going to change it because Morning sounds a little more badass than Snoring and it won’t really affect the plot.

One last thing the Grandmaster in this story is based off of the combat trainer in Disney Infinity.]

Mirage let out a loud groan as she stretched, the rays of the morning sun dancing across her face. Reaching out with her left hand Mirage came to a rather frustrating realization. Violet had already gotten out of bed. Glancing at the clock revealed that it was almost a quarter after seven, last night Violet did mention wanting to go enroll for some classes since the new semester was starting soon. She probably wanted to get an early start. The water being turned on in the bathroom signaled to Mirage that her assumptions were more than likely accurate. For a moment Mirage considered joining her after all it had been weeks since they had last been intimate, their schedules had not been very kind and considering recent events probably wouldn’t be for a while. Then again she didn’t want Violet to be late for something so important and so with a resigned sigh Mirage turned over in time for the phone to ring. After briefly considering throwing the phone out the window Mirage relented and answered only to be bombarded with enough excited techno babble to be temporarily deafened. Sparing a moment to wonder whether or not it was even possible to say so many words in a single breath, Mirage decided to interrupt Xander before he forgot to breath. Again.

“Xander. Xander!”

“Yes?” Mirage winced the over excited voice tinged with a barely noticeable hint of uncertainty briefly reminding her of another genius, one that she preferred not to think about if she could help it. “Mirage?”

“Oh? Sorry Xander got lost in my thoughts for a moment. What was so important that you decided to call at…” Mirage said as she leaned over to get a better look at the alarm clock. “Seven twenty in the morning?”

“Well… I uh was working on your shield generator and it occurred to me that I would need to recalibrate it for Violet’s enhanced powers so you can mesh the generator’s shield with Violet’s force field. I mean I would have done it sooner but there has been so much work and I finally have some free time. So do you think you and Violet can come down today?”

“Violet was going to go to Metroville University to apply for some classes.”

“The N.S.A. could just take care of any applications while she works.”

Mirage made a noise that was somewhere between an annoyed sigh and a groan. “Xander you know how she hates it when the Agency steps in like that. Violet would prefer to have some semblance of a normal life.”

“Right... sorry.”

“No need to apologize to me, just try to think a little more about what you say before you say it.”

“You know me.” Xander said sheepishly letting out a long sigh before continuing. “So many ideas in my head just trying to get them all out of there before I forget them, and listen it’s not life or death or well it could be, but anyway after the classes thing do you think you and Violet can swing by HQ?”

“It’s all right I know you mean well and yes we will stop by after Violet applies for classes okay?”

“All right then see you later.”

“Bye.” Mirage said as she hung up the phone just in time to be treated to the sight of Violet leaving the bathroom clad only in a towel.

“Who was that?” Violet asked as she removed the towel to dry her hair. When she didn’t get an immediate answer the young super let out an amused sigh as she turned invisible.

“R-right that was Xander, he wanted us to swing by the Agency after you applied for classes. He wanted to see if you can still mesh shields with my shield generator.”

“Did he mention how long it would take?” Violet said as she reappeared.

“No, why?”

“Because.” Violet then turned around with a mischievous glint in her eye. “If it doesn’t take too long, and if we don’t hear from the evil me… I was thinking you and I could use a date night.”

“You mean…?”

“Yup.” Violet said as she sauntered over to Mirage. “We’ll go someplace fancy for dinner and then come back home for “dessert”. What do you think of that?”

“That sounds heavenly.” Mirage said as Violet leaned for a kiss.

Form and function. Two words that described many of Edna Modes more notable creations, whether they be sleek, stylish, but protective super suits or the occasional gadget for the National Supers Agency, everything typically associated with Edna would be both pleasing to the eye and useful in some manner. Edna’s mansion was no exception to this rule. A modern marvel of architecture it sat at the top of hill as lord would sit upon his throne, solitary and commanding. The walls and laser fence more than capable of deterring most threats before they ever reached the mansion and should anyone be foolhardy enough to make it that far they would have to contend with Edna’s own private army as well as a myriad of automated defenses. In fact much of the posh décor and extravagant interior held a few nasty surprises of their own. As luck would have it Lucius Best a.k.a. Frozone himself had also decided to stop by to discuss the possibility of having his super suit updated. When the multitude of cultists swarmed out of the dimensional gates to attack the mansion it looked as though they were no match for the combined forces of Frozone and Edna’s security. That is until Shifty entered the field in the form of dragon, that would typically ruin anyone’s day.

Jack-Jack stared at the seemingly frail old man before him ready to use any one of his many powers to counter the more experienced man. Experience that was what prevented him from joining his family in their crime fighting adventures, despite Dash only being ten when he first started. Then again he had less of a choice than Jack-Jack on the matter. Taking advantage of the pause the old man moved in a blur his sheer speed capable of rivaling Dash’s at close range. In a flash of blue light Jack-Jack teleported behind his opponent only to be met with a back hand to the face that hit him with enough force to send him flying into the nearby wall despite the fact that he had started to morph into his steel form.

“That was sloppy Jack-Jack!” The old man said as he pretended to wipe dust from his orange robe before casually stroking his long beard. “If you wish to fight alongside your family you cannot let doubt haunt you. Your enemies will not be as forgiving as me.”

“I’m sorry Grandmaster.” Jack-Jack said as he brushed his shoulder length blonde hair from his face. “It won’t happen again.”

“So you keep saying.” The Grandmaster than turned to the safety chamber looming over the sterile training room. “Mr. Parr if you would please set the parameters for the next simulation?”

“Sure thing Grandmaster, what did you have in mind?” Bob Parr shouted over the intercom.

Before the Grandmaster could reply another voice was heard over the intercom. “I’m sorry Jack-Jack but I’m afraid I’m going to have to borrow your dad for a while.” The familiar voice of Uncle Dicker was heard over the sound system.

“What’s going on? Is it a super villain? Can I…” A sharp glance from the Grandmaster cut off the young super’s torrent of questions.

“I’m sorry kiddo but this would be too much for you to start out with maybe some other time. In the meantime I would like you to continue training with the Grandmaster. I’ll have an agent work on the simulations for you.”

“What’s going on Rick?” Bob said as he got up from the simulation console.

“It’s Edna’s place it’s been attacked by that alternate Violet’s forces. On the bright side Frozone was already there and casualties seem to be at a minimum so far. Plus we managed to create a small device that will dampen the abilities of their telepath so he will only be able to skim surface thoughts, they have been implanted into some spare masks and will be given to you and your family when they are picked up.” As the two began to briskly walk through the Agency’s corridors toward the awaiting armored car Rick turned to Mr. Incredible with one last warning. “I should warn you Shifty has been spotted in his dragon form.”

“Oh, good.” Mr. Incredible said sarcastically. “I haven’t been set on fire in a few weeks so it will be nice change of pace.”

Violet briefly looked around not that there was much to see in the cramped quarters of their armored escort. The black interior was a stark contrast to the white and blue armored suits of the anti-super squad of the agency that was accompanying her and Mirage to Edna’s mansion. Frustrated at this turn of events and the fact that it was her alternate self who was the perpetrator of them, Violet let he powers flare up taking solace in the familiar purple aura that briefly enveloped her body. The same aura that she had been enveloped in all those years ago when she had briefly had her powers boosted was now hers to call upon at will. And despite being a sign of her newfound strength it did little in terms of actual combat usefulness, then again it could be used as an intimidation tactic so there was that.

“Worried Invisigirl?” Mirage kindly asked not needing the visual cue to gauge her partner’s emotional state.

“A little, but I’m mostly annoyed at the circumstance in its entirety. I wish it wasn’t so damn convoluted you know?”

Mirage let out a little giggle at this happy to see the calming effect it had on Violet. “I understand. Don’t get me wrong I like the excitement, but I wish things were a little more simple and straight forward, with fewer casualties.”

“Amen to that.” Violet said as Mirage placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Turning toward one of the nearly identically armored agents Mirage then asked; “Lieutenant how are we handling this?”

“You’ve been briefed on the mission outlines?”
Both Violet and Mirage nodded. “The rest of the Incedibles family is a part of alpha team, they will act as the hammer and attack the enemy forces directly. We are beta team, the dagger and shield both. Our job will be two fold; escort any civilians and wounded to safety while Invisigirl proceeds to neutralize either the enemy telepath or the enemy commander.”

“Hear that Invisigirl?” Mirage said with a gentle nudge to the ribs. “No pressure.”

“We can do it.” Violet said as she briefly let her aura flare up again. “We’ll save everyone and get some answers!”

Veral shook her head as she watched the battle take place before her. Frozone and what was left of Edna’s forces were putting up a valiant effort against the draconic Shifty but it was obvious that it was a losing battle. The flames from Shifty’s attacks were quickly draining the moisture from the air and thus quickly diminishing Frozone’s powers. The fact that he had lasted as long as he did against such an opponent was impressive but Veral would expect no less from someone who was able to resist the corruption that plagued her universe. “Impressive.” Veral calmly stated as she turned to Edna who she kept at her side as they watched the scene from Edna’s ruined foyer.

“Why are you doing this Violet?” The diminutive woman asked her voice a bizarre mix of contempt and uncertainty.

Veral kneeled down so that she was eye level to the other woman. The insect like carapace of armor that was added to her grey robes doing nothing to slow the fluidity of her movements. “MY NAME IS VERAL!”

“Why are you doing this Veral?” Edna asked again seemingly unfazed by the violent outburst.

Veral scoffed as she stood up again. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“I asked didn’t I?”

“Very well I shall tell you. In my universe things were quite different, for example; a man named Xerek became the Syndrome in my universe. Buddy Pine went on to work for the National Supers Agency, in fact he was the one who introduced me to my beloved in my universe. For me life was bliss fighting crime alongside my family and my beloved Miri, being a national hero and star super of the N.S.A. All was I could ever hope for it to be, that was until Phage arrived. A twisted sorcerer from another universe I would later find out just what he was. You see Phage travels the multiverse infecting worlds with one or more of the seven deadly sins, for what purpose I do not know. All I saw where the results as my world became infected with lust. Some might think it would be a paradise of sexual freedom. It wasn’t. And would you care to know why Edna?” Veral asked as a psychotic smile distorted her features.

“Why?”

“Because Ms. Mode, pain and pleasure quickly became intertwined. They were literally tearing each other apart in the streets!” Something that was between a sob and laugh escaped Veral’s throat before she continued. “I saw Miri get torn limb from limb and eaten alive as people fought over her.” This time Veral did let out a bout of psychotic laughter before she continued. “So I screamed to any god if there was one to help me, to give me the power I needed for revenge, and my prayer was answered.”

“So what you will destroy people’s lives in this universe to get revenge on this Phage? Have you forgotten what it means to be a hero?!”

“DON’T YOU DARE LECTURE ME ON HEROISM IMPOSTOR!”

“What?” Edna asked completely dumbfounded by this sudden outburst.

“That’s right…” Veral said in between bouts of more psychotic laughter. “As far as I’m concerned you are all impostors the real Mirage died in my universe, so it doesn’t matter what I do here. Besides Phage is on this Earth and he has already begun to infect it with wrath.” As Veral recovered from her laughter a pair of armored cars pulled up to the ruined battlefield the majority of the Incredibles and two squads of N.S.A. agents emptying out of them, this however was of little impotence to her. The thing that was of quite significance was the sight of this universe’s version of her beloved. “IMPOSTOR!”

[End notes: Originally wanted the chapter to be a tad longer but I decided to go for the cliffhanger.]

Chapter 5

[Author's notes: Okay first off thank to the people over at ff.net for their encouragement, and help. A. Markov, Concolor44, and Firepaw15. Also I hate the way some paragraphs bunch up when I copy paste stuff here so if there are some paragraphs like that I'm sorry but I'm not going through the hassle of editing it again.]

There was no sound. Just a loud ringing that seemed to be coming from everywhere, as her senses began to acclimate to the chaos of her surroundings, Mirage began to piece together what had just happened. There had been a blinding flash in the distance, followed by a bit of pain as she was tackled to the ground. Looking around she saw Dash saying something to her before running off, he must have tackled her to knock her out of the way of the beams. Helen had already made her way over and was trying to pull the injured out of harm’s way. Mirage only hoped Violet stuck to the plan and kept going towards the alternate Violet.

After the armored car exploded, Violet’s blood turned to ice. “Mirage was in there!” She thought. She frantically looked around for the blonde. Only when she saw Mirage’s bruised, battered but very much alive form being dragged away by her mother did Violet release the breath she had been holding. Shaken but feeling a little more confident than she had been a moment ago, Violet stealthily made her way toward where the beams came from. Before the armored car had pulled up Violet was deployed just outside of the ruined fence surrounding Edna’s mansion, just in case her alternate self pulled something like this. Deeming it a little redundant to worry about sound while she was so far away Violet began sprinting towards the ruined building. Hoping the sounds of combat and her invisibility would allow her to sneak up on her opponent.

“Veral.” Edna quietly asked as she watched the scene unfold. “Do you honestly believe revenge will soothe your pain? Do you honestly believe inviting pain upon this world is justified?”

“Shut up Edna!” Veral’s voice was soft but the tremors that shook throughout her body betrayed the building storm. “I don’t care anymore! I WILL kill Phage no matter the cost! If some impostors die than so much the be-oof-” Before Veral could finish her sentence a shimmering orb encased in purple lightning struck her square in the back.

“What gives you the right?” Violet’s disembodied voice shouted over the sounds of combat. “I don’t know what kind of hell you came from, but I can assure you of one thing!” Violet began to concentrate forming a vertical column of crackling force above her counterpart. “If you try to hurt my family… I’LL END YOU!” Violet then turned visible, her body completely enveloped in her purple aura as she put as much force as she could muster into bringing the column crashing down on her opponent.

Elsewhere amidst various debris and rubble, Mr. Incredible and Frozone took cover as they attempted to formulate a plan to stop Shifty. “Incredible! If I can just get close enough to him I may be able to snap freeze Shifty!”

“You can do that!?” Mr. Incredible shouted over the sounds of roars, gunfire, and explosions.

“As long as he remains in a flesh and blood form, I figure he’s probably mostly water like any other creature. It’s worth a shot!”

“Alright then get going I’ll distract him!” Mr. Incredible, in an impressive feat of strength then lifted the debris he and Frozone had been taking cover behind and tossed it straight at Shifty hitting him square in the head. “Hey Shifty, its show time!”

Not needing to be told twice Frozone left his friend’s side and immediately began looking for a place from which he could sneak up on Shifty. Thankfully there were many craters and large pieces of rubble to choose from.

Roaring in rage and pain Shifty turned to face his old foe. Mr. Incredible the hero of metroville and symbol of the return of the supers. The man who led to the defeat of both The Confederacy of Crime and The Unforgivables, the man who was always around to hand him a defeat would in turn be defeated this day. “Incredible! DIE!” Shifty roared as he released a stream of fire in Mr. Incredible’s direction. Just barely leaping out of the way of the flames Mr. Incredible was allowed the pleasantry of introducing his face to Shifty’s claws. Taking advantage of the situation Frozone ran over to Shifty’s tail and proceeded to climb up Shifty’s back, hoping to get in between his wings. “Hey buddy, can I give you a lift?” Shifty laughed as he took flight taking Frozone up into the air with him.

“Okay, no problem, no problem. Just freeze the giant dragon, ride him down and hopefully don’t die in the crash.” Frozone muttered under his breath while rapidly looking for an alternative means of reaching the ground safely. The bright side of being lifted so high up into the air quickly presented itself however. Compared to the smoldering ground below the overcast sky had far more moisture in it. Hoping that he would somehow be able to manipulate Shifty’s body when he starts to fall, Frozone began the process of freezing his opponent.

Violet looked on in horror, a sense of fear and inadequacy creeping up her spine. She had hoped despite her better judgment that her attack would quickly end this conflict. Instead however her counterpart had simply unleashed a single beam up into her force column causing it to explode harmlessly in an impressive display of purple lightning.

“You idiot, you still haven’t fully bonded to the virus yet!” Veral snarled her voice tinged with what Violet almost thought to be disappointment. “We haven’t been properly introduced Violet! I am Veral of the Shattered World and rightful heir to the power of The Void and I will not be denied my vengeance!” With those declarations Violet had ample time to throw up a force field around herself before black flames enveloped her. “It doesn’t matter if you block my black flames Violet! They burn even flame resistant materials, as well as temporarily weaken a super’s powers. The key word being temporarily. After all I don’t want you to lose the extra power I gave you.” Veral cackled as she unleashed another volley of black flames.

Edna used this opportunity to sneak off hoping to find at least one of her turrets in working condition. If just one of them was still online she could at least provide some form of support. She didn’t get far before a man in a white robe and bizarre mask picked her up by the collar of her blouse. The sounds of battle slowly began to fade away as a soothing voice filled her head. The voice told her to relax, to rest, and forget about her troubles. Edna tried to resist as the voice began asking her questions, questions about Mirage, questions about HedgePhase.

Seeing the white robed man pick up Edna, Violet immediately tried to turn invisible so that she could elude Veral and rescue the woman, but she only disappeared for a moment before she became visible again. Hopelessness began to creep up on her as she realized that she was in a no win situation. The young woman quickly looked around hoping that someone, anyone would be able to arrive and help out, but the smoke was still too thick to see.

“So do you finally see Violet?” Veral calmly asked although every word was laced with spite. “This is the fate of a hero. To ultimately die alone against impossible odds. To realize that no matter what they do there will always be evil and that the only solution is complete cessation of life across the timeless infinity of the multiverse. Accept this and help me bring about the end that all of creation desires.”

Violet couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could she have fallen so far? How could this alternate manifestation lose sight of everything that was important? “I’d rather take risks living knowing that any time we go on a mission it could be our last. I’d rather take the risk that is life if it means I can spend even one more day with my family, with my friends, with Mirage.”

Veral only shook her head as she let out a mournful laugh before she let loose another volley of black fire knocking Violet to the ground in the process. “My world… Phage’s corruption didn’t create the seven Original Sins it only brought them out and amplified them. The things they willingly did to each other… to themselves… with other things. How can you protect these vermin knowing that some random person walking down the street might want to do something unspeakable to you?”

“Because…” Violet started as she slowly started to stand back up. “I have faith that ultimately people are better than that!”

“I know for a fact that people aren’t!” Veral roared as her black flames flickered violently around them. “Phage said-“

“And you believed him?!” Violet interrupted. “You really took the bad guy at his word? Veral help me. Together we can stop this Phage.”

“No, Phage’s master… The Forsaken, they’re too strong the only way is to fight fire with fire.”

Violet shook her head ruefully. “When you fight fire with fire everyone gets burned.”

Veral’s face quickly went through a myriad of emotions sorrow, fear, hope, before ultimately settling on rage. “I can’t be wrong! I CAN’T! Veral screamed as she raised her hand to unleash a spell, as she did so however the sky briefly darkened catching both women off guard. Looking up Violet saw what appeared to be a massive meteor made of ice plummeting towards them. Only as it got closer did she realize it was Shifty’s frozen body being rode down to Earth by none other than Frozone. Exhausted and well aware of her temporarily weakened powers Violet knew she had only one chance at this. Taking advantage of her surprised opponents the young super made a mad dash towards the white robed man and tackled him to the ground. Grabbing Edna she quickly hefted the diminutive woman onto her back, before running just far enough to be clear of the impending crash, but close enough for her diminished powers to still affect Frozone.

Steeling herself against the mental anguish that was coursing through her skull Violet formed a spherical force field around Frozone and plucked him off of Shifty as the frost covered dragon crashed into the Earth where Veral had been standing. Pieces of frozen dragon flesh and rubble where tossed around as Shifty’s massive bulk tore through what was left of Edna’s once glorious mansion. Exhausted and seeping blood from her nose and eyes Violet finally collapsed. Frozone having alighted safely on the ground quickly made his way over to Violet and Edna. Upon seeing the condition of both women Frozone quickly lifted both of them up just in time to hear someone shout something vaguely magic sounding. Before he could get very far he felt the ground beneath him begin to shake. “Yeah that’s how this day would go…” Frozone muttered under his breath as the ground erupted around him.

Elsewhere Mirage and a squad of the armored National Super agents where attempting to provide suppressing fire as Dash quickly knocked out as many of the cultists as he could. It was a difficult process considering that they could instantly make cover by raising the very earth while their comrades unleashed explosive blasts of magic. As Dash was finishing up, Mirage felt the ground beneath her feet shift and move as if it were made of liquid, it was disconcerting to feel the ground move in such an unnatural manner. She only had a moment to wonder what was happening when she saw geysers of lava begin erupting near where she saw Shifty crash. “Fall back!” The lieutenant shouted upon seeing the destruction.

“What about Invisigirl, Frozone and Edna?!” Mirage screamed her voice bordering on hysterical.

“I can’t risk anyone against the lava we are falling back!”

“The hell I am!” Elastigirl shouted as she began to run toward the hellish landscape that was forming.

Struggling for air and completely surrounded by molten rock Frozone weighed his options; while his suit took the edge off the heat it was quickly sapping his strength. The intensity of the heat also meant he couldn’t use his powers to signal for help and judging from Violet’s condition she was in no shape to call for aid either. Just when all hope seemed lost Frozone spotted Elastigirl making leaps and strides toward their location. “Helen!” Frozone shouted as he made to toss Violet over towards her mother. Before he could do so however Elastigirl quickly wrapped both her arms around Frozone, making sure that both Edna and Violet where secure, she quickly hefted the trio to safety with an impressive display of strength borne of desperation.

As the group ran from the inferno, Helen spared a glance over her shoulder just in time to see Shifty be consumed by the molten rock.

Back at her secret fortress Veral seethed at this unfortunate turn of events. The majority of her forces captured, Shifty killed. Having to nearly start all over again, but all of this paled compared to the possibility that she could be wrong. As she gazed into the pedestal that mapped the Aether she noticed it had begun to shift. Regardless of her thoughts on the matter the fact remained that she was running out of time. Veral had no choice but to keep moving forward if she wanted to defeat Phage. Breaking her musings Grigori entered the chamber and waved his hand over the pedestal until it took the form of Earth. A small spot was highlighted in Southern America. “This is where HedgePhase is located?” She asked grateful that Grigori wasn’t bringing up Shifty’s death.

“Yes. I’ve also located Phage he’s somewhere on the border of India probably infecting the bordering countries with wrath in an attempt to take advantage of the conflicts that plague that part of the world. That said given the events of today he will undoubtedly make an appearance.”

“Well, we will be going to recruit HedgPhase so we’ll let the N.S.A. and The Incredibles deal with him.”

Shattered buildings and broken bodies littered what once was a quaint Indian village. The inhabitants tore each other apart in a fit of rage and hate and those that survived ran off to spread their anger to whomever they could. Amid this scene of turmoil a lone figure floated, his form shrouded by smoke and darkness. Phage, hoping the tensions that existed within the Middle East and Asia would further spread his Corruption of Wrath, chose the most volatile countries he could. Well, the most volatile away from organizations like the National Supers Agency and Global Justice. Given the recent disturbances in the Aether, Phage considered popping in to say hi to The Incredibles. And he just had to offer his condolences to that Global Justice cheerleader for her recent loss…

[End notes: I was originally planning on killing off Edna but that wasn't how things ended up.]

Chapter 6

[Author's notes: AUTHOR’S NOTE; First off I want to apologize. I don’t want to make it seem like I am withholding chapters I had some serious writer’s block this chapter and it was infuriating. Coupled with my laptop having some major problems I’ve had to use a different computer so unfortunately updates will be sporadic.]

Pain, frustration, helplessness, these feelings and more swirled through Violet’s mind as she lay once again in Doctor Sunbright’s medical room. The fact that Veral could so easily manipulate her powers made her feel like nothing more than a leaf subject to a cruel and uncaring storm. Veral and her Void, Phage and The Forsaken, it felt like Violet was caught in the middle of a blood feud and she was unable to prevent any casualties from occurring. A tear of frustration and rage slid down her cheek. A single question kept running through her mind; “How?” How was she going to stop them, how was she going to be the hero she should be? How… it took Violet a moment to realize that she was not alone. Mirage stood in the doorway still clad in her white spy suit. “Feels like déjà vu doesn’t it?”

“You don’t have to do this alone.” Mirage’s voice had a slight crack to it as she said this.

“What? Oh… I was talking out loud wasn’t I?”

“You don’t have to do this alone Vi.” Mirage repeated a little more forcefully. “Just because Veral is a you from an alternate universe it, it doesn’t make her you.”

“I know you’re right but…” Violet let the thought linger unable to articulate the various emotions she was currently feeling. “How are Edna and Lucius?

“Lucius had a dislocated shoulder but he’s fine now he wanted to go back home and let his wife know everything is okay after he made sure you would be alright. Edna however was subjected to the telepath’s powers. There doesn’t appear to be any lasting damage but she’s still in a daze.”

“And my family?”

“Just some scrapes and bruises. Your brother saved my life today.”

Upon hearing this Violet couldn’t stop the tear from running down her face. “I didn’t know that, all I saw was Mom pulling you to safety.”

“It’s okay Vi, I’m here.” Mirage said as she ran her fingers through Violet’s hair bring her head in close for a hug.

“In that moment when I saw the car explode… I don’t know why I feel like this, we’ve been on several life threatening adventures but I feel so empty like there’s a… a void inside me. Even your embrace feels cold.”

“Violet…” The sight of her lover so run down and defeated left Mirage fighting back tears of her own. Violet needed to see her strong right now, she needed a pillar. “Maybe that telepath did something to you or maybe there was some sort of delayed reaction to what Veral injected you with.”

“The rational part of my mind knows you’re probably right but it’s so hard for me to believe it for some reason.”

“Vi it sounds like severe depression and if I had to hazard a guess it was caused by Veral. You never exhibited any symptoms of depression in the years we’ve been together.” Upon seeing the look that Violet gave her Mirage leaned in to give her lover a peck on the head. “I do have degree in psychology remember, comes in handy as a spy.”

“I don’t think a therapist would be completely helpful if my depression is supernatural in nature.”

“We’ll figure something out, we always do right?”

“Yeah…” Violet attempted to muster some form of confidence in her voice, but even to her ears her response sounded flat.

“I’ll spend some more time with you and then in a little bit I’ll look over the N.S.A. data base to see if there is anything concerning magical phenomenon. Failing that I’ll ask Global Justice for help.”

Violet couldn’t help but snort at that. “Global Justice? You’d be lucky if those tight asses give you the time of day.”

“I’m not scared of Betty and where your safety is concerned well…” Mirage let the thought hang in the air.

“You won’t do anything too crazy right?”

Before Mirage could answer the rest of the Parr family walked in, their super suits sporting a layer of dirt and grime from their efforts at helping those injured from the battle. While the Parr family made sure each other was okay, Mirage did some quick thinking. The unfortunate truth was that neither GJ nor the N.S.A. had much experience with magical phenomenon. The only real options left to her at the moment were to pour over what they managed to recover from Veral’s jungle lab and hope they could gain some information from the captured cultists. Ultimately the outlook was grim either way. Veral was a smart woman, implanting the means with which to further her mysterious agenda into Violet while simultaneously attacking Violet’s self-esteem and ability to control her powers. It was almost flawless, almost. Mirage couldn’t place it but something seemed off.

“Mirage, what’s on your mind?” Helen asked upon noticing the inquisitive look on Mirage’s face.

Mirage couldn’t help the rueful smile that graced her features. Were Violet was concerned Mirage was virtually unable to hide her thoughts and feelings. She supposed no she knew it was good thing. Violet brought out the honesty in her, she always has. “I was just thinking about Veral’s motives. If Violet is so important to her plots why not capture her. She hasn’t even made the attempt.”

Violet snorted dismissively. “Veral’s a nut job who wants revenge and will drag everyone down to get it.”

“True.” Just then everyone turned to see Agent Dicker walk into the room. “Veral is insane and willing to make exorbitant sacrifices to reach her goals, but that’s just it. Despite her immense losses she still has managed to gain something at every turn.”

“What did she gain this time Rick?” Mr. Incredible asked.

Taking a moment to glance at Violet who was obviously doing her best to power through her weariness, Rick let out a heavy sigh before continuing. “Veral’s telepath pulled valuable information from Miss Mode namely the possible location of the rogue super HedgePhase.”
Violet immediately felt Mirage tense at the name of the man who killed her parents. “It’s okay Mirage I’m here.”

“We’re here.” Dash quickly corrected her. Upon noticing the look Mirage gave him he elaborated; “I know how much you mean to my sister and vice-versa. As far as I’m concerned your family your problems are our problems, right?” Dash asked as he turned to his parents.

“Yes of course.”

“We’re all going to get through this.” Helen added as she stretched over a hand to both her daughter and Mirage. “As a family.”

Helen’s words struck a chord in the super spy. Sure she and Violet had been together for a few years and she certainly couldn’t imagine her life without the younger woman. But family, could she really… it was a thought she had been toying with for a few weeks but she didn’t know what to make of it. Before this train of thought could continue Jack-Jack burst into the room, his shoulder length blonde her disheveled and sweat beading his brow.

“Sis, everyone, I’m glad you guys are alright but everyone you need to come outside. There’s some thing here and it’s asking for Violet.”

Curious and more than a little worried the group left the doctor’s room to find Dr. Sunbright outside the building staring at someone floating a few yards above them. As the group got closer they saw exactly what the cause of Jack-Jack’s unrest was. A decrepit figure gazed down upon them a malevolent light shining from his empty eye sockets. The tattered finery he wore did nothing to conceal the rotten, leathery flesh that clung to his bones, the group was at the very least thankful for the veil that covered the majority of his face. No one wanted to see what the monstrosity’s face looked like underneath it.

“Heroes of this world I am Phage and I bring you dark greetings!”

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Veral let out a roar of frustration as she swatted aside some of the foliage of the South American jungle she and Grigori found themselves in. “If we do not find HedgePhase soon I will turn this entire jungle to ash!”

“Patience Veral! I sense a super is not far off.” Grigori for his part was simply glad his robes and helmet provided magical protection against the humidity, that said the telepath had some serious questions for his companion given recent events.

As if sensing the turbulence plaguing her companion Veral stopped walking and without turning she simply said; “Yes.”

“I’m sorry?”

“The only thing that matters to me anymore is Phage’s defeat. I do not care who kills him anymore. That being said, I’d still prefer it if the plan continued as normal, we will revive a piece of The Void using Violet as its host, take control of its mind with your telepathy, take control of its body with HedgePhase’s powers and have it kill Phage.” Veral than let out a heavy sigh before she continued. “My… my rage demands that I continue down this path, however if for whatever reason… I was wrong.” Veral let the thought hang in the air for a few moments.

When it became apparent that she was not going to continue Grigori stepped forward and calmly placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m with you until the end.”

“Thank you Grigori.”

“It’s my pleasure. The super I sensed is roughly a half a mile ahead shall we continue?”

“Yes and be sure to leave just enough of his mind intact for him to still be able to use his powers.”

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Dr. Sunbright and the Parr family looked on in horror at this disturbing revelation, much to Phage’s amusement.

“You?! You’re Phage?! Violet did nothing to hide the venom in her voice as she spoke the monstrosity’s name.

“I see you’ve heard of me, all good things I hope?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Phage let out a loud cackle upon hearing this question. “I’ve had someone ask me that question in at least sixty six different universes. It never gets old!”

“We’ll be the ones who stop you here!” Jack-Jack yelled as he unleashed a volley of lasers from his eyes. Phage merely threw up one of his decrepit hands and created a two portals one to intercept the lasers and the other behind Jack-Jack. Reacting faster than even he thought possible Dash pushed his younger brother out of the way, taking a laser blast in the shoulder for his troubles. Worried that Phage would follow up with another attack Violet enveloped the entire group in a crackling force field.

Phage let out another bout of cackling laughter. “I have fought you all several times throughout the multiverse. I can counter each and every one of your abilities, just because your force fields have some minor differences this time doesn’t mean I can’t absorb them!” With that Phage extended his hand towards the group. But after a moment he noticed something was wrong. It was as if there was nothing there. Curious he instead sent out a small volley of green flames which Violet’s shield easily stopped. “Curious, I see your shields, they obviously work but I can’t absorb them.”

Deciding to take advantage of Phage’s hesitation Violet dropped her force field. “Now Mom! Speedy, get ready!”
Not needing to be told twice Elastigirl extended a fist towards the undead monster as Violet created a ramp out of her force fields for Speedy to run up on. Upon seeing what his sister intended Speedy ran towards Phage ignoring the sharp pain shooting through his shoulder. Phage merely responded to the onslaught by floating a few feet higher Speedy attempted to jump and tackle him, the pain in his shoulder however only allowed him to pull off the undead’s left leg.

“Oh my!” Phage then dramatically gestured toward his damaged limb. “You actually managed to damage my body. Well this is amusing but as fun as this is I have more stops to make good day Incredibles our final battle will have to wait for another time!” With that Phage disappeared in puff of black smoke.

“Dammit!” Violet yelled as she punched the ground. “We almost had him!”

“Don’t worry sis”. Speedy said as he waved around Phage’s severed leg. “That jerk doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”

Violet couldn’t help but grin at her brother’s lame pun. Maybe just maybe they stood a chance after all.