A/N: Okay, okay, I know this is probably a tired and done cliché after almost fifteen years of this movie being adored and now having the sequel, but say what you will, fans are something I get. And Syndrome, despite being a villain, was once a Mr Incredible fanboy called Buddy Pine. However, I get the feeling that the character deserves a bit more about him. I'll try not to "Draco In Leather Pants" him or "Ron The Death Eater" any member of the family, but here's my attempt at Syndrome/OC.

Plot: Sapphire Sage knows very little about her birth parents, since they died when she was only two and since then, she's lived a relatively normal life with loving adopted parents. But when her emotions and her hands turn a breeze into a swirling vortex, she realizes immediately that she was born a super, and wants nothing to do with it. But eight-year-old Buddy, desperate to be a super himself, befriends Saffy and they soon become fast friends. But when Buddy uses his brains and tries to turn his dream into a reality with Saffy by his side, soon enough, his hurt feelings turn that into a nightmare. But..well, if he has one super that will be willing to stick by him, maybe, just maybe there's something that can be salvaged...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Incredibles. Everything you recognize belongs to Pixar and Brad Bird. All I own is Saffy.

Also, a big thank you to someone else (you know who you are) who helped me think of Saffy's superpowers and let me talk through my ideas with him.

"She is, like, a total geek!"

I didn't look up as I heard Gabby Rivers' comment. My eyes focused on my book. It wasn't like I cared what she had to say, whether it was about me or not.

"You know," I heard her friend Jess Turnpick giggle, "We should see what she looks like with a skinhead cut! It's not fair, she's one of the only kids in school with red hair and she doesn't even deserve it. It's not like she does anything with it!"

I started trying to tune them out. It was true that I never bothered to do much with my long red hair. I usually left it loose and just brushed it silky, or put it in a ponytail. Oh well, at least it meant that even the popular kids wanted something I had.

If you were wondering, I wasn't totally little Saffy-No-Friends. I'd only been at this new school for a month, and eight-year-olds don't always accept you straightaway, especially when you were as shy as I was. It didn't help that my new teacher, not knowing my nickname, introduced me as "Sapphire" so even though most kids and teachers alike called me Saffy by now, I was sure no kid in my class had forgotten. It took about two weeks for the popular girls to start gossiping about me, or ganging up on me. They hadn't started in on me yet, apart from talking, but it was only a matter of time, so I was going to enjoy reading my book while I still could.

I just hoped they wouldn't push me too far. So far, I'd kept myself in check, but who knew how long I could do that? It was only a matter of time, but it would be much better if "a matter of time" meant it only happened after I'd finished high school.

What would happen? Well, I'd usually put it this way: I had friends at my old school, but not many. I hadn't made any friends here yet, but if they knew more about me, there was no way that would ever change.

"Hey, Scarlet-head." Oh, great, they'd arrived.

I looked up from my book for a moment. "Gabby, Jess." I greeted them unenthusiastically. But I was too shy to suggest that they might spend their time better if they didn't talk to me. The words were in my head: "Don't you have anything better to do than talk to the geek?" But the words just wouldn't come.

"Watcha reading?" Jess asked, her eyes sparkling maliciously.

"Something." I mumbled.

"And it sounds like you're not enjoying it." Gabby added with a giggle. "Maybe you'd rather read something else."

"Or nothing." Jess added, hammering her point in by snatching my book off me and dropping it onto the grass, which had recently been rained on. Then, she stamped on it, driving it further and further into the mud. After that, the two girls just watched me rescue the book, all over mud and covering my hands in sloppy clay. A lump formed in my throat as I looked at my ruined paperback, but I held back the tears.

And the girls didn't say anything. They just stood there, watching – and I think that's what made me mad.

It got all blurry after that. I think I dropped my book (on concrete this time), and moved my hands out and in, concentrating of the feeling of the air that rushed past each time I moved it. Then, when I looked up, there it was – a tornado, a twister, localised on just the side of the court. I was still standing there, my ponytail blowing back and my feet firmly on the ground. But Gabby and Jess were being pulled into the treacherous wind, their screams loud enough to attract the attention of every kid on the court, if not everyone in the whole school and beyond.

I hadn't meant to do it. But they'd destroyed one of my favourite books, and it just made me so furious. I couldn't stop myself from fighting back, and this was my only way to fight back. It was what I was afraid of, happening right in front of me. And once I'd brought the tornado into existence, I had to let it run its course.

I'd known all my life that I'd had different parents to the ones I'd been brought up with. I'd been orphaned when I was two years old, and I remembered nothing about my biological parents – I hadn't even been told anything about them. But I'd always had these things...strange supernatural powers that no one else had – and if they did, they hid them a lot better than me. I didn't lose my temper often, but when I did, that was when my powers spun out of control. Usually, I could only create a strong gust of wind, even when my instincts took over and did it for me. That tornado meant that my powers were only getting stronger, and that thought scared me.

Okay, so the two girls were fine. The tornado was small enough, and after pulling them into the vortex and spinning them around off the ground for a couple of minutes, the tiny thing had run its course and let me go. But they looked at me again, their faces now not only malicious but terrified, and then they turned and walked away. They still shot poisonous looks at me, but said nothing.

As for the other kids, they looked at me, terror and suspicion written all over their faces. But then they seemed to forget about it and went back to whatever they were doing.

I was going to go and look for a way to clean off my book and my hands, but before I could do a thing, I was waylaid by a boy. He was about my age, but he wasn't in my class. He had bright eyes and looked a little dorky, but I didn't mind.

"That was so cool, what you just did." he said, giving me a smile that gave off more light than the sun. "I've always wanted to do something like that whenever I see someone getting teased or picked on, but..." he shrugged. "I'm not ready yet."

I was confused. "What do you mean?" my mouth said, forgetting to be shy.

"That tornado superpower." the boy said, grinning. "I've seen those girls getting at you before. How come you haven't used that? Is there some kind of code in your family or something about not doing it? Cause if I had that, I'd use it all the time."

I could feel my face getting hot. Did he really think it was a cool power? "I didn't mean to." I mumbled. "Those girls just made me mad, and I kind of lost it. I didn't even know I could make tornadoes – before I've only done strong winds. I don't like standing out."

The boy's eyes became even brighter. "You can manipulate wind?" he breathed. "I would love to do that! Why don't you do it more? You could be a child superhero – that's my dream! And yet you don't want it? Come on – if you accepted you had this power, maybe you could learn to control it so you wouldn't have to use it if you didn't want to."

He had a point. But I didn't want to be a superhero. We saw them all the time on TV, saving their respective cities. There were several local ones, although I'd never actually seen any of them. The idea of having to answer questions on TV was terrifying.

"I don't know..." I said slowly.

"Come on!" the boy insisted. "If you got used to it, maybe you'd like it more! All the great supers embraced their powers and worked hard to control and use them before they became supers! And..." he grinned. "I'm starting to develop some ideas on how to invent devices so I can be a super, too. We could learn a lot from each other. Don't you want to save the world, just once?"

Well, I looked at him. In a way, he reminded me of a puppy, playful and friendly and just wanting so much to be social with me. I didn't want to disappoint him. And, to be honest, I could tell that he wanted to be my friend. Even if it was just because I had superpowers.

But it didn't seem like it was because he wanted glory and it came with my superpowers – more like he really looked up to me, even though it was a power given to me just because my parents were supers (yeah, they died on missions – that's why I'm orphaned) and wanted to help me accept it. Besides, I haven't made any friends yet. Wouldn't it be better to have one friend than none?

So, I managed a smile. "I guess that might be a good idea. I'm not sure I want to save the world, but maybe I could. I didn't think of my powers being useful. If you help me work with them and get some control, maybe I can help you with your inventions."

The boy gave his million-dollar grin again. "Great! Oh...and by the way, I'm Buddy. Buddy Pine."

I smiled again, more genuinely this time. "My name's Saffy. Well, Sapphire, actually, but everyone calls me Saffy."

At that moment the school bell rang for the end of break. "I better go." I said with a sigh. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Bye!" Buddy said cheerfully, and he left for his own class. I walked back to mine, feeling more optimistic than I ever had at school before.

They have met! And although they are only eight now, this still takes place some time before the Incrediboy incident. Buddy hasn't created any of his superhero inventions yet – he's still working on them. And Saffy needs to start working on her own powers.