Chapter Two: Horseman of the Apocalypse

"Now you two stay here and watch Jack-Jack!"

Dash watched from afar as the Parr family began making preparations for the battle against the Underminer. He was tempted to intervene to spare his family from the disaster. It was selfish but he had lost so much. He watched his younger self arguing with his sister, debating on whether or not they should assist their parents. Even though he couldn't really make out what she was saying, he remembered by heart what his sister said.

Violet.

She was alive. And she was... she was Violet. Before the storm. Before the Cataclysm. Before the world was torn apart and before faith was nearly destroyed.

"Vy..." Future Dash whispered to himself. He had so much to tell her but he knew the ramifications of altering the timeline. He had already swore to prevent the war but nobody was certain what actions could start it or what could stop it. He just knew directly interacting with the past would have major repercussions and as much as he wanted to speak to them, he wasn't willing to risk everything for something so selfish.

Instead, Dash followed his parents as they fought the Underminer, stealthily maneuvering around them to ensure no civilians were hurt. He was fast enough that before anyone would realize he was there, he'd have been gone yesterday. He spent so much time mastering his abilities in both rescuing and combat that he could probably handle the Screenslaver himself.

"Oh, SHIT!" Future Dash somersaulted into the air, landing meters away from his past self. He had been so preoccupied with his parents' movements that he forgot about the aid the younger Parrs provided. Thinking quickly, Dash sped towards the checkpoint where his family would fight the Underminer for what was supposed to be the last time.

He remembered this day so well. He remembered watching his parents stopping the villain's weapon and getting arrested. He was atop apartment buildings by the time the battle was over and he was so tempted to free them. He thought that maybe their arrest could save the future but again, he wasn't certain. He still needed to figure out who the true culprit was behind these events.

"Mirage, I need a biometric scan for any strange anomalies," Future Dash knelt down and spoke to the gadget on his wrist. A holographic image of Violet appeared.

"Negative, although you might want to move to the other building. Frozone is making his escape in this general direction," the AI advised. He quickly moved a few columns away just to be safe. "What's the next plan, boss?"

"I don't know. But I need to keep an eye on them at a distance. Can you download files on the Screenslaver?"

"I have already finished processing the data from Evelyn Deavor's current computer but there have been no significant changes between the past and present. They're mostly very disturbing journal entries, some indicating psychopathic tendencies and generally pessimistic thoughts."

"Basically... an emo edgelord."

"Correct."

"It would have been a lot funnier if she called herself that."

"The files lent to us from our Evelyn Deavor suggests that we should neutralize her upon her defeat."

"Wait, what?"

"She instructed me to keep this information from you until we return to the past."

"And you hid this from me? How did she-..."

"She only altered one protocol."

"But why does she want me to kill her? Did she forget we don't... we don't do that. The Cataclysm doesn't count and we don't know what would happen."

"The data she uploaded into my software suggests Evelyn Deavor's technological advancements could be used against everyone."

"So we just need to wipe out those files, right?"

"She has not yet begun scheming her escape."

"Then... we have to wait. Watch and wait."

"Affirmative."

"All right, Mirage." Dash stood up and watched the police haul his family away.

For the most part, it had been an uneventful number of days. He mostly assisted in the smallest of ways, like doing the dishes when his father was too tired to do them or setting up their school supplies. He hung out with a bunch of homeless people because he knew that nobody would take them seriously; most folks would assume they're nothing but delusional but Future Dash had a heart. Every now and then, he'd bring the homeless food while his mother operated as Elastigirl.

There was this one time, Future Dash saw a would-be mugger sneaking up to his mother as she dealt with the pizza guy that was framed as the Screenslaver. Of course Elastigirl had no idea what was going on because he grabbed him, broke his balls and just generally broke every working body part that could be used against helpless people. The future had taught him the cruelties of life but remembering his family helped reign him in. That, and the many promises he made to Meta Girl.

"I hope you're doing okay, M..." Future Dash wondered aloud. He sat next to Johnny Trash, a one time celebrity who turned to drugs and ended up as a vagrant. He split a taco with him and kept to himself for the most part. The rest of the hobos huddled around the fire but not Dash. He just gazed at the moon. It was the night that they celebrated their victory over the Screenslaver and he made preparations to visit Evelyn Deavor at the prison. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he said to himself, "Let's do this."

"You goin' finish that?" Johnny Trash asked the speedster.

Most superheroes would harbor a perpetual hatred for their arch-nemesis but Evelyn survived the Cataclysm and proved herself to be a useful ally. She served as their tech support during the war and she even sacrificed her life for Violet. Future Dash gained enough respect for her because of that, and it increased tenfold when he found out she created an AI system reminiscent to his sister. Before that, Mirage didn't even have a hologram.

"And because of that, I'm going to get you out of here." For a brief moment, Evelyn just stared at the superhero before roaring in laughter. Apparently a few days in the joint made her riddled with despair.

"Okay, okay. Let me get this straight. This big bad evil comes out of the middle of nowhere..."

"It was at the diner."

"And I end up joining you supers in the fight for humanity?"

"For all living things."

"Oh, boy, that was a hoot!" Evelyn sashayed towards her bed, patting down on it. Future Dash reluctantly obliged. "You know, if you were who you say you were... then why don't we just create an army of supers?"

"We did."

"Oh?"

"And we still failed."

"And how did we fail?"

"We got too arrogant. As much as I want to go into detail about what happened, I rather not risk anything."

"But you're already risking something by coming to me, Dash," Evelyn whispered salaciously into his ear. Future Dash shuddered.

"Look, I get it. You don't trust supers."

"Oh, it's not that I don't trust them. I despise them. If you are who you say you are, I should be having my revenge. And what better way to get revenge than... oh, I don't know..." Evelyn bit her lip, but all it did was cause Future Dash to edge away. "I know, I know, I'm not as young as most girls, but I am still a girl; and I'm a girl with experience. And a girl has needs. And from the looks of it, I haven't been broken out so you're either here as a tormentor or... a plaything. I'm hoping the latter. Or maybe you could be both, just to spice things up."

"I'm going to hurl..."

"Now that I take offense to."

"If I break you out, will you help?"

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"What do I get?"

"Are you fu- are you serious right now? The future is at stake!"

"Yes, but everything has a price. Especially liberty."

"Fine. What do you want."

"First, I want to go to my bunker."

Before any other demands were met, a loud explosion was heard in the distance. And Future Dash knew exactly what that meant. Standing up, he saw through the penitentiary and the fighting had begun.

"What's going on?" Evelyn drew concern.

"This is where it starts. It'll begin with a few battles before it escalates to a global war."

"Boy, you weren't kidding. And here I was hoping you were just another dick." Evelyn scoffed and Dash slowly turned around, giving her a quizzical look. "What? What did you think I meant by making an army of supers? I was kind of hoping you took the hint."

"W-what?"

"You can't be serious. Are you... a virgin?"

"Why is this a discussion?"

"Oh, my God. I am definitely taking that from you."

"Will you help me or not?"

"Fine, fine."

"All right. But you gotta' promise to stop hitting on me."

"Oh? Would a few baby making sessions disrupt something in the future?" Evelyn flirtatiously prodded Future Dash's chest. For most men, they would be excited by this but in his timeline, Evelyn wasn't just another ally; she was like a second mom. "Or did you find the love of your life already?"

"Dude."

"Okay, fine. Break me out and let's save that crap town."

"Great!" Future Dash punched through the wall and the prison was immediately alerted. Just to cover their escape, he opened every cell but made sure every guard was moved outside to avoid getting lynched. When he returned, Evelyn held a disappointed expression. "What?"

"You phased through the cells to get to me."

"What about it?"

"You didn't need to break down the wall. Now the feds will definitely assume I orchestrated the whole thing."

"That was actually future you's idea." And for a while, a dumbfounded Evelyn just stared at Dash in disbelief. After a brief pause, including the predictable cliche tumbleweed rolling by, Evelyn hopped on Dash's back.

"Get me out of here."

Dash and Evelyn made it in time to the commotion. A slew of recognizable villains were running amok now that supers were legal again. Because of that resignation of the previous status concerning supers, some villains decided to go out in a blaze. And for some, a literal blaze.

"Who the hell is that?"

"That's Hot Shot."

"What a boring name. And overcompensating. He's too ugly for that. He should call himself Hot Not."

"Can we get back to business?"

"Right. Okay, you fight the bad guys and I'll evacuated the civilians." Dash glared at her before she could make a move. "What?"

"You do realize I know all of your hideouts, right?"

"Oh, please. If what you say is true, then of course I'll help."

"Okay, fine. Just get them out of here. Be back in a dash." And with that, Dash made his way towards the fires of war. Of course by now, Dash was a veteran and his reflexes were honed at the zenith of superhuman conditioning.

"Well, that's cheesy. Oh, give me a break." Evelyn turned around and all she remembered was meeting a cold, defiant stare that could spell the very doom of anyone unfortunate enough to stand in his way. When she came to, she was tied to a chair in front of an expectant Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible.

"Well, this is one big happy family reuinion!" she quipped but nobody was amused. "Look, if you're wondering, I didn't start all of that."

"And we're going to believe you, why? You nearly killed us! My family!" Mr. Incredible roared, punching the steel wall that left a dent.

"Honey, enough. I'll handle this," Elastigirl commanded softly yet sternly, placing a gentle hand on her husband's arm. "How did you break out and what were you doing at the fight scene?"

"Well, if I told you, you'd just lock me in an insane asylum."

"Not telling us will guarantee it." Before they could continue, Frozone entered the room and motioned for the Parrs. Elastigirl gave her a silent warning before joining the two.

"Oh, don't worry! I won't go anywhere!" Evelyn shouted sarcastically.

"What's up?" Mr. Incredible asked his best friend.

"Bob, Helen. There's someone you gotta' meet." Husband and wife looked at each other but before they could ask, Frozone began making his way down the halls. Passing a few corridors, the three entered a room to see their kids talking to... someone foreign. "You two might want to take a seat."

"What's this about?" Helen asked. "Who are you?"

"Mom, Mom! He can run fast! Like me!" Present Dash jumped up and down excitedly. Apparently Future Dash found out his future mentor was captured, just like in the original timeline, and he knew he had to break her out. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't willing to injure anyone else he cared about. Especially with only a handful of supers out in the open.

"Helen, Bob... wow, that's weird. Anyway, you two might want to sit down," Future Dash instructed.

"But I'm already sitting down," Bob piped up. Helen grinned at her husband before turning her attention back to Future Dash.

"How do you know our names?" Helen asked.

"He knows a lot about us, Mom. He even knows who Frozone is," Violet answered.

"And how do you know that?" Bob asked.

"If I tell you, I might be altering things and I don't know if I can risk this. But I'm already risking a lot by interacting with you." Future Dash stood up, removing his mask. The room was in disbelief because he had Bob's strong facial structure but Helen's calm appearance and soft eyes. He only shared some resemblance to his younger counterpart but that's because puberty didn't hit.

"Whoa," the younger Dash said aloud, sitting down.

Helen stood up, walking up to him and inspected his face. There was a scar on it, no doubt from battle. "Who... who are you?"

"Wait," Bob began. "Dash, you said he has powers like you?"

"Yeah! I saw him running here and... well..."

"Yeah, we kind of ran into each other," Future Dash confirmed. "I was kind of hoping it didn't happen, but if there's any butterfly effect, it hasn't happened yet."

"Butterfly effect, what? Wait, stop..." Helen touched his face and the more she imagined it, the more she saw it. "Are you..."

"My name is Elastiboy to the rest of the world," Future Dash started, giving a weak smile as he held on his mother's hand before letting go. He looked at his younger self and knelt down. "But to you guys... I'm Dashiell Parr."

"Double whoa..." the younger Dash said in awe but quickly recovered. "Wait, Elastiboy? What?"

"Yeah, dude, it was either that or Dasher, Dancer, Comet, Cupid-..."

"Okay, okay, okay. So lame. Wait, what's Vy's codename?"

"Incredigirl."

"Seriously? Who thinks up of this stuff? Why not Ultraviolet or..." Obviously Violet wasn't too fond of these names.

"Because it would have been way too obvious and you chose it."

"Like that's any better." Future Dash smiled as his sister rolled her eyes.

"You're... Dash? My... our Dash?" Helen was on the verge of crying. Most people would assume he was fabricating a story but a mother always knows.

"Your Dash," Future Dash said to both Bob and Helen.

"Okay, this is so freaky. I'm... going back to Honey. Let me know what happens next?" Frozone held out a fist for Bob.

"Tell Honey we said hi," Bob responded, bumping his fist with his best friend.

"My boy... you grew up!" Helen squealed in excitement. When they realized he was telling the truth, the family cheered and they entered a group hug. Even Jack-Jack knew his brother so well as he casually trusted him enough to latch on to his head.

"My God! Look at you! I bet the ladies love seeing you around, huh?" Bob smiled wider than he had ever before but Future Dash's smile was faint... like a dying star on the last dregs of life. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"The reason why I'm here is not a good one. The world is in danger. And most of us won't survive."

"Danger? From whom?" Helen inquired. Before Future Dash could respond, however, another explosion was heard in the vicinity.

"He's here." Future Dash gritted his teeth, electricity surging through his body.

"What? Who's here?" Bob asked. This fight Bob survives but this is the fight where the world panic begins.

"Captain Grim, the Bringer of Plagues and Famine. And the Black Horseman of the Apocalypse," Future Dash responded ominously.

To be continued...

AN: For those who haven't seen the Incredibles 2 yet, you have been spared enough spoilers but if you haven't seen it, then you probably should. I would also like to apologize (not really) if it did seem lazy. I was hella baked when I wrote this chapter.