I don't own The Incredibles.

I was interested in how Buddy became Syndrome. While I don't have many plans to continue with this one-shot, that doesn't mean I might not come up with any more one-shots expanding over it.

Please let me know what you think.

Buddy Syndrome.

Still numb with shock which just barely held back the growing inferno of rage burning within him since the rejection earlier tonight, Buddy let the police escort him to the front door of his home, his ears still ringing with the words of his 'idol' whom he had tried to help.

Buddy had heard people who were stunned with shock were aware but when his parents finally turned up at the front door, the boy dimly heard his father call for his wife. Buddy snapped out of his stupor when his mother threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a python embrace. He was so stunned by his mother's unexpected hug and the way he felt as if his airway was cut off, leaving him gasping for air before his mother pulled away.

"How could you do it, Buddy? You must have known how dangerous that criminal was?!" His mother demanded.

Buddy realised he had been so stunned and stupefied by what Mr Incredible had done he hadn't paid any attention to what the cops had said. Out of the corner of his eye, Buddy glanced at the police officers standing over him. He saw instantly they were not going to help. "I only wanted to help Mr Incredible, mum. That's why I created the Incrediboy disguise."

His mother stared at him in shock, while his father didn't disguise his own anger. "You deliberately went out to become Mr Incredible's sidekick? Buddy Pine, do you realise you could have been killed? And how do you think your mother and I would have felt? You are grounded for a whole year and you won't be getting a chance to work in the workshop again."

"What?" His father's outburst made it clear the police officers had indeed told them about the incident with Bomb Voyage, and how Mr Incredible had to release the villain just to save his life, and while he could understand where his dad was coming from when it came to the angry punishment, Buddy couldn't believe his parents were willing to go that far, and he automatically turned to his mother, hoping for her support. But he was waiting in vain, it was obvious to him both parents were in total and complete agreement. "Dad, I was trying to help-."

"No." Buddy jumped when he heard the glacial tone in his mother's voice, and he shut up quickly when he saw the glare coming from her. "You could have been hurt. Leave the heroics to those superhero idiots you idolise, you are not going to initiate them! Never!"

Buddy felt his heart thudding in his chest, and he was sure it would violently burst out of his chest like a volcanic eruption. He wanted to protest more, but one look at his parents made it abundantly clear any kind of protestation was a super bad idea, so he restrained the urge to carry on arguing; he wouldn't be able to work in the workshop and developing his beloved inventions for a full year if he carried on there was a chance they could double or triple the punishment until he had grown used to the fact he hadn't worked with his tools and equipment for so long, his parents wouldn't care if there were police officers here or not.

That was how his parents were. But truthfully Buddy had hoped they would never have discovered the Incrediboy identity he had come up with so he could fight bad guys like Mr Incredible, and all of the other Supers, like Frozone, Elastigirl, Gazor Beam, and the others, or if they did then he would have been fully cemented as Mr Incredible's sidekick.

He had truly hoped by then he would have gained the older Super's trust, and he had become a Super in itself. He would have been on cloud 9 if that had happened. One of the things he had wanted to be for years was a Super, but because he lacked powers of his own like superhuman strength, agility, or telepathy, Buddy had seen the flaws in his plans very quickly.

The Super Gene was mysterious and nobody knew where it came from, if Supers could only marry and have babies with other Supers for them to develop unique twists on the powers before using them. The Supers never told anybody about how they got their powers and they had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure no research went into it.

Buddy had been truly upset when he realised he could pretend as much as he liked, he would never get the gene, but that was okay with him. After a while he decided it didn't make any difference at all, he would make use of his mind and his inventive skills. It would be a piece of cake to rig something up which would let him fly. Miniature jet engines? A jet pack, perhaps? No problem. Some kind of weapon? Tasers, definitely.

He had thought he would be on top of the world, the Super's world.

But what he hadn't expected was his idol ignoring and demeaning him.

The two officers, Buddy saw, looked awkward as they took in the domestic scene, but otherwise, they said nothing. After a moment Buddy realised he didn't care at all what they said or what they did.

His father sighed, and Buddy saw the anger fade away somewhat. "Get to your room. We'll speak to you later," he instructed in a tone which made it clear to Buddy if he so much as protested, even a word, the punishment would be even more severe.

The last time he had made the mistake of protesting…

Buddy knew he should be relieved his parents hadn't become even more creative with their punishments, but they had made it very, very clear to him growing up they would only tolerate so much, and when they used tones like this or the glares like the one his mother had used only a moment ago, it was best just to shut up and do as you were told.

And so, Buddy slunk off to his bedroom. As he walked up the stairs, barely paying attention to the chatter between his parents and the police officers who'd brought him back here by Mr Incredible's order, Buddy realised despite his protests to his parents, he was still in shock about everything which had happened tonight before he walked into his bedroom, barely seeing all of the newspaper cutouts and posters of Mr Incredible mounted on the walls of his room.

Slowly Buddy looked up at the posters of Mr Incredible, but the picture of the super which really caught his eye was Mr Incredible posing heroically in an art deco poster.

His hero had rejected him, after the Super had signed his autograph, stood for pictures which he had glued to his walls, and even after he had tried to help, and tell the hero he was trying to be true to himself by becoming Mr Incredible's sidekick, he was still rejected. Buddy remembered the look of contempt on Mr Incredible's face - oh, yes, Buddy had been paying close attention to the Super's expression and body language the whole time while he was telling the Super he might not have powers, but there were other Supers who didn't have them, so what was the problem? But what does he get instead?

"Fly home, Buddy. I work alone!"

The anger started to burn within Buddy's soul like a growing inferno. He had felt the spark of rage which had started the moment Mr Incredible rejected him. Buddy wanted to be admired and he wanted to be respected by the rest of the Super community, but he wanted to be a success as well. And why wouldn't he want to be a success?

But no, he had been rejected. He had been humiliated, not only by the Super but by the police as well. That hurt as much as Mr Incredible needing a minute to remember who he was! Sure, he had accidentally had a hand in damaging a block of apartments, but that didn't mean he still couldn't help! But as he looked up at the poster, Buddy felt his admiration for the Super transform into a rage-induced and fuelled hatred. With a burst of rage, he tore the poster off of the wall, and he watched it fall to the ground with enormous satisfaction.

X

When the Supers were banned, ironically enough due to Mr Incredible saving a man who didn't even want to be saved and the Super ended up being sued for simply not minding his own business, Buddy found it hilarious, especially as it started an inevitable avalanche of similar claims.

In the brief time since Mr Incredible rejected him, Buddy had felt nothing but a growing loathing and contempt for the Supers in general and he was trying to get on with his life, but he watched and listened with great interest while he made use of the year-long ban while he was forced to spend not working with his inventions in the workshop reading comics and taking note of the over-the-top or futuristic things like ray guns, flying saucers, or time machines, and working out ways they could work in the real world. At the same time, Buddy broadened his mind with science and engineering books.

As he studied, Buddy made his plans.

Yeah, one day…