Chapter Text
“You can still do great things, Mr. Incredible. Heroes are still around, doing good in the shadows. If you still need some convincing, here are two audio messages attached, both respectively from your old friends Gazerbeam and Gamma Jack.”
Bob’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at the mention of the two other Supers. Gazerbeam… but he’s been reported missing for over three months now… And since Simon didn’t really have any family to report him missing in a timely manner, he could’ve been gone for longer. And Gamma Jack– he and Bob had been maintaining an email chain together for a long time, but Gamma Jack had stopped responding a little less than a year ago. Come to think of it, when he had gone to the animal shelter a handful of days ago, wanting to surprise Dash and Violet with their first pet, he had noticed a dog that looked shockingly similar to Jack’s. Out of nostalgia, he had adopted it and even posted a photo of it on Facebook, hoping Jack would see it and comment, “Wow, he looks so much like my dog!” Of course, he never did. Jack’s profile stated he hadn’t even been online for about a year now. Regardless, Bob was almost sure this actually was Jack’s dog, and he would never willingly give his dog up for adoption in a million years. So what was the explanation? Come to think of it, Simon’s Facebook profile said he hadn’t been online for about a year as well. It was more typical for him to be offline for longer, given how busy he was, but never this long. Simon was a fellow Facebook warrior after all.
This was certainly suspicious. Still, he decided to listen to the audio files.
“Should I start now? Understood. I must say, coming to this island was certainly the best decision I could’ve made,” Simon’s voice rang out, sending Bob for a bit of a shock. He felt like he hadn’t heard that voice in a very long time. Serious, strong, steadfast. “I believe that legalizing Supers and our work again is within reach with Mirage’s assistance. I will report back when I have more information. Any other Super who listens to this, I highly recommend you make your way here yourself. Gazerbeam, signing off.”
There was a long pause, then Jack's voice rang out next.
“Huh? Is it on? Oh, alright.” He still sounded like how Bob remembered him, with that youthful voice that didn’t really match his handsome, defined face.“Well, I’ll say coming here was definitely a great choice. There’s no fine babes or anything, which, y’know, kinda sucks– but there’s lots of great food and the scenery is just real swell! I can’t wait to get home, though. Feels like I’ve been away for a long time already–”
The audio recording suddenly cut off. There was silence for a while, and Bob thought that was just about it until Mirage’s voice met his ears again.
“So, what do you say, Mr. Incredible? You have 24 hours to get back to us. Think about it.”
The static in the background suddenly cut out, indicating the message was now over. Bob leaned back in his chair, regarding the video projector with a thoughtful expression. The dots just weren’t connecting. He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but it wasn’t hard to figure this out– Simon would never be away this long without explaining his absence, and Jack would never be gone long enough for his dog to be seized by the government and be put up for adoption.
They were missing, and Mirage had something to do with it.
He stood up, his chair rolling backwards slightly. He was going to go along with this and find out what had happened to Simon and Jack. He didn’t want to put Helen or Lucius in danger or make them worry needlessly, so he would keep it a secret for now until he had the full picture.
Bob felt almost excited at the thought of going on a secret mission to save two friends. He knew it was wrong, he knew Simon and Jack could be in really deep shit, but he couldn’t help himself. Protecting others was his life’s purpose, after all.
He picked up the little business card that had popped out of the video projector, squinting to read the phone number listed. He dialed on his personal phone, not wanting Helen to potentially eavesdrop on the home phone.
It rang only once before someone picked up.
“Voice recognition?” a woman asked him, distorted by a voice filter, although he already knew who it was.
“Yeah, it’s me, Mirage. I’m in,” he said, slowly sitting back down in his chair, which squeaked slightly in protest. An uneasy sensation settled in his stomach as he thought about all the things that could be happening to Simon and Jack. Unless they were already… “I wanna help… and I’m sure Gazerbeam and Gamma Jack would be happy to see me.”
A moment passed, and the voice spoke again, this time without the filter. “Mr. Incredible, I’m so happy to hear you’ve decided to join in. Your fellow Supers have been working hard here, and they could use your help. With you as the face of our operation, legalizing Supers would finally be achievable. All of those people would finally be able to start using their gifts for good again.”
Bob sighed inaudibly, rubbing the bridge of his nose for a moment as he held himself back from questioning Mirage about all the inconsistencies in her story. Instead, he forced himself to maintain a jolly, excited tone. “Yeah, that’s really great. So, how am I gonna get there?”
She hummed slightly. “Tomorrow at 9 AM, go to the pier closest to your home. You’ll see a man dressed in a gray uniform and a helmet. Tell him the code word: SUPER, and he’ll take you to a jet. I can’t wait to see you, Mr. Incredible. Safe travels.” Then, she hung up.
Bob leaned back in his chair contemplatively. Was he overthinking this? Simon and Jack both sounded pretty happy in those audio recordings… maybe they had gotten so wrapped up in it that they had simply set their normal lives aside to focus on being Super again.
No… it didn’t make sense, especially for Simon. Simon was as much of a Super as he was a normal person; he valued both parts of his life equally. He wasn’t so sure about Jack, but something told him he wouldn’t just abandon his dog willy-nilly. He would either personally rehome it or just take it with him.
“Yeah, something’s off here,” he said to himself. He booted up his clunky computer and logged into Facebook, first checking Simon’s profile. As expected, nothing changed; he hadn’t been online recently. The profile picture, the bio, the posts, everything was like it had been frozen in time… But wait a second, there was a post from over a year ago that Bob hadn’t seen yet. He clicked on it, eyebrows raising with surprise when he saw the photo.
It was Simon and Jack together at the airport, with the blonde crouched on the ground, one hand petting his dog’s head and the other holding a treat. He was giving the camera an exaggerated, cartoony expression, though his hair was still in its usual, suave style that probably took him over an hour to do everyday. The casual attire and environment would never have someone guessing that man was Gamma Jack, the Radiation Super. He looked like he was ready to hit the beach.
Simon was facing the camera with a brown suitcase held in one of his hands. His other hand was behind Gamma Jack’s head, likely forcing him to look up at the camera for the photo. He was wearing his usual out-of-uniform attire: a suit, dress shoes, and tie. Instead of the usual straight line his lips were in, though, there was a slight smile on his face.
The caption: “We’re heading off on vacation now. BYEBEYBEYBEYE”
Bob couldn’t help the involuntary chuckle that escaped him. Obviously, that last part was courtesy of Jack. He hadn’t known the two had travelled together… This must’ve been right before they were recruited by Mirage. He decided to scroll through Simon’s account, curious as to what else would be there.
More posts of him and Jack together– almost every single post since the Super ban had Jack in it, or at the very least, he was mentioned. It was strange; during the golden years, the two had been friendly, but not to this degree. Simon had always regarded Jack as an asshole, but also as a strong ally… never anything more than that.
After scrolling to nearly six years ago, he saw a photo of Jack holding a puppy in his arms. Simon had taken it, a bit of his finger having been caught in the corner of the camera. Jack looked ecstatic, grinning as wide as a child on Christmas. “Jack adopted his dream dog. Congratulate him,” the caption read, obviously written by Simon; classically to the point.
Bob sighed, resting his head against his fist. Damn it. These two really had adjusted to civilian life well, hadn’t they? But if they had, then why would they accept Mirage’s offer in the first place? Maybe… even if they had adapted well, that innate desire to fight and protect had never truly left them. Maybe that was true for every Super.
If it was… then maybe Jack and Simon weren’t the first ones contacted by Mirage.
Bob really hoped he was overthinking this. He hoped he’d arrive and find Simon and Jack perfectly fine and working on plans to legalize Supers again. But he had to be ready if that wasn’t the case.
He stood up without bothering to shut down his computer. He didn’t have much time– he had to get to Edna to get his old Super suit fixed up. God knows it would probably disintegrate with one strong hit at this point, after being locked up in a case for nearly fifteen years.
Carefully, he popped open the case and removed the old suit. He felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him as he felt the old, familiar fabric between his fingers. He remembered the good old days when he wore this suit almost everyday, fighting endless waves of crime without breaking a sweat. Sometimes he’d fight alongside Simon or Jack, although most of the time, it was either Helen or Lucius, even if he preferred to work alone. He still remembered every fight, every hit he had taken while wearing this suit.
Sighing, he quietly closed the case and folded the suit up, tucking it under his arm.