Author's Note:
Yeesh, this chapter is way longer than the other two. Spent all last night writing it though. It was part of the first chapter originally, but I revised it, and here we are.
When The Day Met The Night
Part Two-Symbiotic
"So, Buddy, I have to ask... you said you felt sick, and you certainly don't look very healthy, why is that?"
"Well... Six months ago, I was... in an accident," he replied.
An accident. Riiiight. If that's what you call getting a car thrown at you and falling into a jet turbine.
Buddy frowned, and not just because of his smart-alecky alter-ego. He had just barely met her and already he didn't like lying to her. He didn't think she was lying to him, and it made him feel bad. Worse than killing countless Supers, in fact, but that was behind him (and as Syndrome, he had rarely felt remorse anyway).
"Oh, I'm sorry," Violet replied, and put her hand on his.
"Ouch!" he yelped, and pulled his hand back. "Sorry," he started, not wanting to make her feel bad. "I'm still in a lot of pain... though there's no way you could've known that."
"I do now... Anyway, you seem a bit down."
"Well... truthfully, I'm not doing so well."
Go on, make my day. Tell her you're dying. I want to see her face-
Shut up.
"Oh... what do you mean?"
"I spent the last six months in the hospital, three of which were comatose. They didn't think I'd wake up, and I'm still in a lot of pain..."
"Your injuries must've been horrible..."
"Well, truthfully, I think I deserved it now."
"Come on, you couldn't have been that bad..."
"I was. Never seek revenge, Violet, I'd hate to see something like this happen to you. I was lucky to survive. You're more frail... you probably wouldn't."
Violet blinked and replied, "You'd be surprised, I saved my family from dying a while ago after a long ordeal... You know, almost getting killed really brings a family together." She giggled.
"I can imagine... I've been completely cut off from my family for a long time... I had a girlfriend, but she betrayed me." He still seemed angry about it to Violet, and there was something odd about him not mentioning his family but for one statement. She pushed it to the back of her mind to bring up another time.
"Well, I won't betray you, no matter what." She held up her hand. "I promise."
"And I promise I will never stand you up unless I have a really, REALLY good reason, which I will be sure to tell you all about the day after."
"Pinky swear?" Violet asked, grinning childishly.
Three weeks later, the pain was a little less, much to Buddy's surprise, save for the day when the pain had been so great he couldn't even get out of bed (he was sure to tell Violet the first chance he got, and she understood and forgave him). He was just setting out for the park when he saw a car drive past his house containing Violet with some other very familiar faces in it. The most familiar was the Parr whose image was practically burned into Buddy's mind- Robert Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible.
"Oh, GO FIGURE," he yelled to himself, hitting himself on the forehead then crying out in pain. "Maybe she carpools with them," he mused, and set off anyway.
Meanwhile, the Parrs themselves were going to the store.
"Why do we have to go to the store?" Dash whined, but went unanswered.
"Bob, could you take Violet to the park? She meets someone there every day," Helen asked. "I have to get groceries."
He nodded. Dash started to sulk as he exited the car. He hated getting groceries.
The ride to the park was almost completely silent, save for the questions that bubbled up in Bob's throat, but eventually went unasked. He sighed as she left and gave her a quick, fatherly hug before she ran off, basket in hand.
She smiled at Buddy as she approached, and waved at him as well. Removing a grilled cheese sandwich from the basket and handing it to him, she noticed he looked more solemn than usual. "What's wrong? You don't look very happy."
"Violet..." He paused. "Your last name doesn't happen to be Parr, does it?" he continued quietly.
Violet looked at him strangely. "Yes, it is... what's wrong with that?"
Buddy slammed his head on the table and released a bitter, humorless laugh before gritting his teeth in pain. "More than you could imagine." He began to curse quietly-it had been excessively stupid for him to hit his head on the table, something he normally wouldn't have considered. He didn't like pain. No one did as far as he knew.
"Why?" she asked simply.
He sighed faintly. He had fallen for her somewhere along the line, and even the knowledge that she was the daughter of his greatest nemesis didn't quite dissuade him. He sat up. "Violet... six months ago..."
"You were in an accident. You told me."
"No... you see, it wasn't quite an accident. It was intentional. Your... your father," he choked out. Trying to keep his emotions in check, he then continued. "Your father tried to kill me, and nearly succeeded."
"He wouldn't do that," she contradicted.
"Yes he would," he protested. "You don't know who I am."
"You're Buddy-"
"But do you know what that means?" he asked, more forcefully than usual. "If you don't know what I'm talking about... I'll elaborate. But you're going to hate me. You're never going to come back here. You'll betray me, and tell your parents... I've already proved that Murphy was right... I don't want to prove he was an optimist."
"Murphy...?"
"Murphy's Law. Everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong. In other words, the story of my life."
"Anyway, I want to know why my dad would try to kill you. Go on."
"Listen. I know everything your family went through six months ago, how you and your brother and mother were in a jet, and it was hit by missiles and crashed into the ocean... I know how you were all held captive, how you fought the giant robot that was destroying Metroville... I know how your baby brother was almost kidnapped... That's because I was responsible for all of that. I tried to kill your entire family... I probably haunt your nightmares. My name is Buddy Pine, but you probably know me as Syndrome."
Violet fell silent and tried to process this information a while, then gave up and began to speak.
"You're not Syndrome."
"What...?"
"Syndrome murders Supers. Buddy talks to lonely girls in the park. You were Syndrome six months ago. You're Buddy now. I know you're not faking it. If you were, you wouldn't be so attached. You would've just kidnapped me at the start. You wouldn't try anything in the condition you're in now. Trust me, I know these things... my mom knows a lot about villain psychology. You don't have to be Syndrome the rest of your life. I don't know if you're sorry for killing all those Supers, but the past is past, and it doesn't matter. My dad still thinks he killed you, and he's not sorry, not one bit. He wishes it could've gone another way, that we could've done something else, but he's not sorry. He never will be. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that people can change, and I think you already have. You've revealed your innermost self to me, you only lied once, and even that wasn't a true lie; usually you opted to simply not mention everything, just as I did. We had secrets that we couldn't share yet with normal people. You couldn't just tell some random sixteen-year-old girl that you were a mass murderer, and I couldn't tell someone that I was a Super if they didn't already know. It would be stupid. You act much different than you used to, that's why I don't feel in any danger right now, talking to you. You're not a childish villain bent on revenge because of something as petty as rejection. I can't see how anyone can be when they're in your condition anyway. What you are is someone who desperately needs help, and are willing to help someone in exchange for their time. That someone is me. We can help each other. Did you know that most people don't even consider talking to me at school? They never have, even though I'm considered popular now. They don't think I'm interesting enough. I'm the invisible girl, just like I was before. You're different. You listen, and you relate... it's a symbiotic relationship. Both of us benefit from the other's company."
Buddy closed his eyes for a moment and let Violet's monologue set in. After several minutes of awkward silence, he looked up. "What are you leading up to?"
Violet blinked. "What do you mean?"
"That... you cut off in an unorthodox way for a monologue. You've got to be leading up to something. What is it...?"
"Well..." Violet faltered. "You listen like no one else... you just listened to me ramble for who knows how long without interrupting... and, well..."
"And what? Wait... you don't have to tell me if you don't want to..."
"Yes I do. If I don't, I feel like I'll die. Even though I know who you are now, my feelings haven't changed toward you, and... I think I've fallen for you, Buddy."
The next chapter might take quite a bit longer. I still have to figure out where this is going. I can't keep it mundane like this the whole time, now can I? *winks*
Read and review!
Dani
