The Path of Redemption

The Incredibles: The path of redemption.
Englishwitch
Disclaimer: Disclaimer- I do not own The Incredibles, it is a Disney/ Pixar animation motion picture

Chapter 8- The secret.

The school day was over and Tony was making his way home alone. Really he wanted to go and spend some more time with Violet but his parents strongly insisting that he spend more time with them. He would call her later though to see how she was going. He had heard that she had just vanished sometime during lunch and also tat Vanisher had appeared out front for a few seconds. Only Tony knew the two events were connected. It wasn’t an obvious connection that Violet was Vanisher. It was nearly impossible to imagine Violet riding around on that massive motorcycle Vanisher used and fighting against criminals and super villains almost on a daily basis. But it was totally impossible for people to imagine Vanisher sitting in a bedroom struggling along with a 500 word essay for history class. That was the greatest reason why a supers identity could remain secret; both lives were totally opposite of each other.

A car pulled up on the road alongside him. Tony ignored it and kept on walking. Out of the car jumped two people. One of them carried a camera and snapped a couple of pictures of Tony and stepped back but kept his finger ready like a hunters finger on the gun trigger, ready to snap more pictures again in a second. The other guy carried a large tape recorder, hanging off a shoulder strap. He ran in front of Tony and jabbed a microphone in his face.
“Rydinger.” He said in an oily voice. “Care to answer a few questions.”

Tony had endured a mediocre media attention in the first few months after Psychewave’s attack on city hall. People were not only interested in his hostage story but wanted to know, more than anything else, what he had said to Vanisher to make her turn against Psychewave. When Tony had refused to answer any of their questions the attention had petered out. Only one person had continued to stalk him. David Conner, a freelance journalist and his photographer partner Leon, Tony had never heard his second name. David was sure that there was a groundbreaking story that lay with Tony and wasn’t giving up on it too easily. Personally David thought that Tony was in a love triangle between Violet and Vanisher.
“Shove off Conner.” Tony spat. He pushed his way past the reporter and continued on down the street but David jogged after him, still holding out the microphone at Tony.
“What were those magical words that you said to make Vanisher turn against Psychewave?”
“Go away.” Tony growled.
“I heard the lovely lady made an appearance at your school today. Now why do you think that such a prominent hero like Vanisher would be at a tiny little school like yours when there was no danger. No criminals taking hostages, no threats at all. She wouldn’t be there, unless she had a reason to be there, like perhaps; visiting someone.”
“FUCK OFF.” Tony yelled right into the microphone. He turned and sprinted down the street and away from David. David didn’t chase after him, the kid was young and fast while he was middle aged and lugging a heavy tape recorder on his shoulder. Daivd turned and nodded to the car.
“Let’s go.”
“You ever think perhaps there isn’t a story?” Leon asked as he climbed back into the vehicle. “That maybe the kid just got lucky by begging for his life or something?”
“No.” David said defiantly. “There is a story there and I will find it. Vanisher was totally allied with Psychewave. She attacked a military base, fought off other Supers and threatened a lot of innocent people during the siege on town hall and nothing made her blink, not once. Then all of a sudden he comes up and whispers some magic words and she becomes the saviour of the city. Words don’t ever have power like that unless there is something with them, like memories. That Rydinger boy and Vanisher have kind of relationship and I’m going to expose it somehow.”

Tony continued on down the street. He was too angry just to walk home right at that moment, he needed to clear his head a little. David had a natural ability to get under his skin, he guessed that it seemed to be the thing that qualified you to be a reporter. The guy seemed obsessed with finding the story that didn’t exist. David thought that he had a triangle between himself Vanisher and Violet; the guy would have no idea how close he was to the truth. Tony hadn’t told Violet about Conner, the time had just never seemed right with all the problems she was going through. This was his cross to bare in their problems.

*************

Violet sat down on the sofa as she picked up the phone and she smiled as Tony’s voice came down the line.
“Hello?”
“Hi Tony.” She said sweetly. “Sorry I didn’t see you today.”
“Same here.” He replied. “I heard that you skipped a few classes though. I thought you said you weren‘t going to do that.”
Violet felt a slightly embarrassed blush rise on her face. “I know, but it was an emergency. I had to.”
Tony was silent, he knew that an emergency for Violet meant something that revolved around Shifter. “Are you alright?”
“I guess that I will be. Wish I could see you though.” They had such little time together that they tried to snatch every minute they could.
“I wish I could too. But my parents want me around a little more. They think I‘m spending too much time with you, can you believe that?”
Violet giggled a little. It seemed the kind of mad thing that a parent would think. Tony an Violet only spent a few weekends together at best. She guessed that it was the thought of what she and Tony got up to during their time together that made his parents panic.

At that second her attention was snatched by Michael walking into the room.
“I’ve got to go.”
“An emergency?” Tony pressed with slight urgency.
“A bit of a family emergency. Nothing too serious.” She said reassuringly. She didn’t want to say anything about Michael just yet, this wasn’t something to be said over the phone, it had to be done face to face.
“Alright then. I guess I’ll see you at school. Love you.”
“Love you too. And yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Violet spoke happily. “Bye.”

Tony hung up and Violet put the phone into it’s receiver. She turned and looked at Michael, he still looked thin and needed a good meal or two but now that he was showered and had on some clean clothes he looked much better. He certainly smelled much better. He was dressed in jeans and a blue sweater, they were garments meant for Dash but they were just a little too big for him at the moment but they fitted Michael perfectly. Helen had bought them for Dash to ‘grow into.’
“You’re looking better.” Violet said with a smile.
“Thank you.” He muttered nervously. He was still acting like the uncomfortable guest. Violet hoped it wouldn’t carry on for too long, he would be living here for a while. Violet pointed at the chair.
“Take a seat. I’ll go and put your suit in the washing machine.” She moved off out of the room. Michael sat on the chair and stayed in a stiff pose. His fingers played with each other nervously. A sudden move at his side made his jump like a mouse. Dash had speared out of nowhere right to the side of the chair. Dash had been less than amused at the prospect of sharing his house with Shifter and was now glaring at him angrily.
“I don’t know what bullshit you said to my sister to make her do this. But I know you’re still evil. I’m going to prove it and have you thrown in jail. Right next to your little friend Psychewave.”
“DASH.” An angry voice yelled. Dash and Michael both flinched. Violet was in the doorway, clutching the Shifter suit in her hand. She was glaring at Dash with the same anger Dash had shown Michael.

Dash took one last glare at Michael and vanished in a blur of light and a breeze that whipped Violets hair up a little. Violet watched his bedroom door slam and turned to Michael.
“Are you ok?” She thought how stupid the question must be, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Fine.” Michael muttered in a voice quieter than any he had used before. Violet felt a pang of sadness hit her heart.
“They don’t understand. They may never understand. They don’t know you like I do.” She said sympathetically. Michael looked at her and watched Violet leave and walk toward the laundry room. He was still upset, but it felt a little better knowing she was on his side.

Violet put the suit in the washing machine. Edna had designed the suit so it was machine washable. Michael had worn this suit for months on end and the only way it showed was in the dirt and the smell. There were no rips or tears anywhere along to the outfit; Edna had put just as much effort into this suit as she did everything else she made. She had no reason not to, when she had made these suits for Psychewave and Shifter she had no way of knowing they would become Super Villain’s.
“A lower temperature for Super suits.” A voice snapped her out of her daydream. Violet turned, it was her mum in the doorway. Helen looked a little troubled and Violet could guess why.

Violet made the necessary modification to the washing machine before turning back to her mum. Helen certainly looked like she had a lot to say.
“Mum. I know you don’t like having his here.”
“Not that we have much choice in the matter.” Helen said calmly. She was trying to keep her voice at speaking level, she didn’t want this to turn into a shouting match.
“I’m sorry about that mum. But he needed my help.”
“But an 8:15?” Helen said with an air of desperation. “Don’t you realise what that means? He’s bound you completely. If he breaks the law it will be as though you broke the law. You’d both go to prison.”
“I know mum.” Violet said, looking the parent directly in the eyes. “Agent Price explained it all to me. If he goes down the I go down. I knew that before I signed and I still did it. It’s an outcome I’d accept if it meant I could give him the chance to prove himself.”
Helen fell silent. There was nothing else that could be said against such a statement. She turned to the door and, just before she walked out, she found some words.
“I hope he doesn’t let you down.”

Violet stayed silent until after Helen had left. She sighed and nodded to herself.
“So do I.”

To be continued.