——————————🦸🏼‍♂️——————————

Bob sat in his office at work robotically typing on his computer when someone contacted him on the phone.

"Mr. Huph would like to talk to you in his office."

"Now?" Bob asked.

"Now."

...

Mr. Huph sharpened a pencil and put it down next to three others so they were neatly organized.

"Sit down, Bob."

Bob sat down and looked at his boss with a blank expression.

"I'm not happy, Bob. Not happy." Mr. Huph grumbled. "Ask me why."

"Okay. Why?"

"Why what? Be specific, Bob."

"Why are you unhappy?" Bob asked monotonously.

"Your customers make me unhappy."

"What, you've gotten complaints?" Bob asked.

"Complaints I can handle. What I can't handle is your customers' inexplicable knowledge of Insuricare's inner workings! They're experts. Experts Bob! Exploiting every loophole, dodging every obstacle! They're penetrating the bureaucracy!" Mr. Huph ranted.

"Did I do something illegal?" Bob asked.

"No." His boss said with gritted teeth.

"Are you saying we shouldn't help our customers?"

"The law requires that I answer 'no'."

"We're supposed to help people." Bob argued.

"We're supposed to help our people! Starting with our stockholders, Bob. Who's helping them out, huh?"

Mr. Huph let out a sigh.

"You know, Bob, a company..."

"Is like an enormous clock." Bob answered.

"I'd like an enormous...Yes, precisely! It only works if all the little cogs mesh together. Now, a clock needs to be cleaned, well lubricated and wound tight. The best clocks have jewel movements, cogs that fit, that cooperate by design. I'm being metaphorical Bob. You know why I mean by cooperative cogs?"

Bob wasn't paying attention anymore. Instead, he was focused on a man that was getting mugged outside of the window.

"Bob? Bob?" Mr. Huph grabbed Bob's face. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, Parr!"

"That man out there, he needs help."

"Don't change the subject, Bob. We're discussing your attitude."

"He is getting mugged." Bob pointed to the window.

"Well let's hope we don't cover him." Mr. Huph responded sarcastically.

"I'll be right back." Bob got up and started to leave.

"Stop right now, or you're fired!"

Bob paused and Mr. Huph smirked.

"Close the door."

Bob closed the door.

"Get over here, now."

Bob released the now crushed doorknob and walked back over to his boss.

"I'm not happy, Bob. Not happy."

Bob looked back out the window and saw the mugger escaping.

"He got away." Bob said venomously.

"Good thing too. You were this close to losing your-!"

Mr. Huph was cut off by Bob grabbing him by the neck.

...

All the workers gasped in surprise as Mr. Huph was thrown through the wall. Everyone looked through the holes in all the walls he was thrown through and looked at Bob.

"Uh-oh."

...

Mr. Huph was lying in the hospital in a full body cast. An older man exited his room and spotted Bob sitting in the hallway. The man turned to leave and Bob followed him.

"How is he?"

"He'll live."

"I'm fired aren't I?"

"Ya think?"

"What can I say Rick?"

"Nothing you haven't said before."

"Someone was in trouble."

"Someone's always in trouble."

"I had to do something."

"Every time you say those words it means a month and a half of trouble for me, Bob. And it's hundreds of thousands of taxpayer's dollars."

"I know."

"We gotta pay to keep the company quiet. We gotta pay damages, erase memories, relocate your family. Every time it gets harder. Money, money, money, money, money. We can't keep doing this, Bob."

The elevator arrived and Rick stepped in.

"We appreciate what you did in the old days, but those days are over. From now on, you're on your own."

Just before the doors closed, he stopped them and sighed.

"Ah, listen Bob. Maybe I can relocate you, you know, for old times sake." He offered.

"No, I can't do that to my family. Everyone just got settled. I'll make it work." Bob promised.

"Take care of yourself."

...

Bob pulled up his little shaky car into the driveway and he made his way into his office at home and started emptying everything out of his briefcase into the garbage, when he noticed a big yellow envelope that he hadn't had before.

He pulled out a tablet that had a blinking light that said 'hold still'. The screen scanned Bob's face.

"Match, Mr. Incredible." It said.

Bob was so startled, that he dropped the tablet onto the ground. A light popped out of the tablet and scanned the room.

"Room is secure. Commence message."

A video played of an attractive woman with white hair.

"Hello Mr. Incredible. Yes, we know who you are." She said.

"Rest assured, your secret is safe with us. My name is Mirage. We have something in common. According to the government, neither of us exist. Please pay attention as this message is classified and will not be repeated."

Bob scrambled to grab a paper and pencil to write down notes as the woman continued talking.

"I represent a top secret division of the government, designing and testing experimental technology, and we have need for your unique abilities. Something has happened at our testing facility."

"Honey?" Helen said from behind the door.

"What?"

"Dinner's ready." She told him.

"Okay."

"...It is contained within an isolated area, it threatens to cause incalculable damage to itself and our facilities, jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars, worth of equipment."

"Is someone in there?" Helen yelled again.

"It's the TV, trying to watch."

"Because of its highly sensitive nature...

"Well, stop trying, it's time for dinner."

"One minute!" Bob snapped.

"If you accept, your payment will be triple your current annual salary. Call the number on the card. Voice-matching will be used to ensure security. The supers aren't gone, Mr. Incredible. You're still here. You can still do great things. Or, you can listen to police scanners. Your choice. You have 24 hours to respond. Think about it."

With that, the video ended. Bob sat down in his chair and looked around the room at all the memorabilia from his superhero days and got excited.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the tablet producing a card with Mirage's number on it.

"This message will self-destruct."

"Uh-oh."

Smoke poured out of the room as Bob exited, coughing. The smoke set off the smoke alarm and the fire sprinklers.

...

Bob was drying off all the books with a hair dryer when Helen came up behind him.

"You are one distracted guy." She told him.

"Am I? I don't mean to be."

"I know you miss being a superhero and your job is frustrating, and I just want you to now how much it means to me that you stay at it anyway." She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Honey, about the job?"

"What?"

"Something's happened." Bob started.

"What?"

"The uh..."

"What?"

"The company is sending me to a conference." Bob lied.

"A conference?"

"Out of town. I'm just gonna be gone for a few days."

"They've never sent you to a conference before. This is good isn't it?"

"Yes." Bob hesitated.

"You see? They're finally recognizing your talents. You're moving up." She squealed.

"Yes."

"Honey! This is wonderful."

"Yes it is."

...

Bob called the number on the card and Mirage answered.

"Yes?"

"This is Mr. Incredible. I'm in."

——————————🦸🏼‍♂️——————————