Zacathia Kristoff sat slumped outside the main doors to Dartmouth High School. It was the end of the last day of twelfth grade, so she was free of the damned place finally, but she hung back for a while. Some of her friends were coming back next year, simply to take a few extra courses before going to work. She wasn't, why torture herself further?
Zacathia, or Zac as her few friends called her, was one of the few people in her school that didn't care about what the teacher's had to say. Every student going there doesn't care at some point, but she hadn't cared from the minute she stepped into the building. All she could think while in there was of how much time she was left with there, until she was free forever. Now that she finally was, she didn't know what she was going to do for the rest of her life
Zac stood up, pulling her sunglasses down off her Bandana-covered head. Even though it was the middle of June, she had as much of herself covered as she could stand. She was wearing a black leather overcoat, one of two that she had, with the sleeves cut off. Underneath that, she wore a black t-shirt with a messed up Mr. Potato head on it that said "Why be normal?" and her favorite pair of black Cargo pants with her dark blue winter boots to finish it off. It was her outfit, and she had multiples of all of them so that she could wear it every day of the year. It was an old trick, but it worked. No one cared anyway's, no one even knew Zacathia Taylor Kristoff existed, except the teachers that had to put up with her.
The few teachers and friends she had knew why she was allowed not care what the teachers told her, and only they knew. She was the sole owner of Virus Industries, the number one guard training corporation in North America, China, and England. She also had all her homework for the year passed in by the fifth day, and all her tests done by the second week. She knew all the stuff, but she her parents where none the wiser that their only daughter had one of the highest IQ scores in the world, higher even than Albert Einstein. She paid the school board to keep it quiet that she went there, and how high an IQ she had from the press and her parents.
"Hey! Zac!" She heard behind her. Turning around, she found out that it was her friend Mitchell D. They had known each other since they were two, and had always been best friends.
"Hey Mitchell." She said, giving off one of her rare smiles. Only her small group of life-long friends had ever seen her smile, and even then it wasn't often.
"You headed to your place?" He asked. "The gang was wondering if you wanted to go bowling?" The gang. The unanimous nickname for her group of friends. Herself, Mitchell D, Bill Wade, Chad Phillips, Lisa MacDonald, and Buddy Pine.
Buddy, she laughed. He was simply an incredibly smart loner like herself with issues about supers and their superpowers. Little did he know that everyone in his little group of friends had powers. They let him tag around with them simply to prevent him from getting beat up by the football team. If they didn't, he would most likely not have made it to the eighth grade.
"Yeah, nowheres else to go. I'm not needed at home for another few hours though, so sure." She said, shrugging as she followed Mitchell towards the back of the school. Everyone was waiting by the Harbour doors entrance waiting for Mitchell and Zacathia. As usual, Buddy was sitting on the steps while he was waiting, pouring over some drawings of an invention he was trying to perfect. No one tried to stop him, he already had made rocket boots (which he wore everywhere). They were kind of big and clunky, but he claimed that he was going to figure out how to make them stylish eventually.
"So where we going?" She asked them. They could literally go anywhere's. Once, they had all felt like going to Hawaii for the weekend, so they took Zac's private jet there. Lisa had gotten airsick the entire way there, which had made them all feel bad for her because there was still the return trip.
"We were thinking maybe New York? That's where your from Buddy, aren't you?" Chad smiled, elbowing Buddy in the side playfully. Buddy glared at Chad, having told everyone to call him Syndrome. They didn't pay attention to him though. They simply laughed at him until he dropped the idea.
"Yeah, I am. But my family moved for a reason." He said. They all looked at him questioningly, wondering what he could have done. They didn't know much about him before he had moved to Canada in the sixth grade.
"Would we be able to find out that reason?" Lisa asked, speaking everyone's mind. That happened a lot, as they knew each other so well.
"No." Buddy said simply.
"Well. If you don't tell us, we're going to go there, and you have nothing to do before Saturday." Mitchell said, smiling. He was the person who knew the most about Buddy, seeing as his parents knew Buddy's parents. Buddy glared at Mitchell, wishing he hadn't said that.
"Well... I'm not allowed to go there, as Mr. Incredible is said to live there, and he has a restraining order against me." Buddy said, blushing. He obviously didn't tell many people this.
"You're kidding me? What did you do?" Zac asked, barely able to hold her laughter.
"Nothing!" Buddy said, glaring at Mitchell, as if daring him to speak. Mitchell smiled tauntingly at Buddy.
"He was Mr. Incredible's #1 fan. He used to stalk Mr. Incredible, so Mr. Incredible got a restraining order." Mitchell smiled, seeing Buddy's face go almost as red as his hair.
"Oh my god, that's where you got the idea for rocket boots, isn't it?" Bill asked, his English accent still strong after living in Canada for five years. Everyone smiled, enjoying this. Zac thought it a rude way to find out stuff about Buddy, but she wanted to know more about the guy. He may be a little weird, but he did have good idea's from the schematics she had been able to sneak peeks at. She was planning to give him some money to start building some things once he had a design he was happy with.
"You said you wouldn't tell!" Buddy shouted, pushing Mitchell. Now this was a bad idea. Even if everyone let Buddy hang out with them, they wouldn't let him push one of their own around. If anything started to happen, they'd be on Buddy in an instant.
Being pushed by Buddy got Mitchell really mad. He pushed Buddy back, not wanting to do anything major. Mitchell could easily beat Buddy to a pulp, being on the Hockey and Rugby teams. Buddy knew this, but didn't care. He had one of his newest inventions with him today. Buddy pulled a set of white gloves with thick white gauntlets attached out of his backpack. Everyone had seen them today, but had no idea of what they did. He hadn't planned on showing them, but apparently Mitchell wanted to see first hand.
Buddy pointed his index finger at Mitchell, and activated the gloves. A blue stream of energy shot at Mitchell, stopping his lunge at Buddy instantly. No one knew what to say, or do. They didn't know if it hurt, and they didn't really want to find out.
"What the hell is that?" Zac asked, intrigued.
"It's Zero point energy. I finished them last night." He smiled, hoping she was impressed.
"How'd you do it?" Chad asked, looking worriedly at Buddy's other gloved hand."Easy. I've been working on them for a few years now. Figured out the bugs in the system a week ago, but didn't have all the parts I needed until yesterday." He explained, looking at Zac's face, and trying to read it. It was a mix of amazement, interest, and fear. It was exactly what he wanted. She wanted to know how it worked, but was scared of it at the same time.
"Can you let him go now?" Lisa asked. "We'll make sure he doesn't do anything." She promised, looking worriedly at Mitchell. Mitchell and Lisa had just started going out, so he was showing off in front of her. Buddy smiled knowingly, releasing Mitchell.
"That felt weird!" was the first thing out of Mitchell's mouth when he got out of the blue energy. Buddy smiled. Mitchell wouldn't bother him again. Now he only had Zac to deal with…
"Maybe we should lay off bowling for another day." Zac said, grabbing Buddy's arm and pulling him away. She heard wolf whistles follow them, but she gave them the finger, which shut them up quickly. She didn't do that much, and when she did, she was either really mad, or meant business. Buddy made no movement to pull away from Zac, rather he followed her obediently like a lost puppy.
"You need to come with me." She said, not looking at him. She had let go of his arm, he was following on his own free will now. Zac pulled out her cell phone, and called her driver. He parked in the parking lot at IGA while she was in school. He pulled up in front of the school within three minutes of getting her call, and she pushed Buddy into the back and climbed in after him.
"Where are we going?" Buddy asked curiously. He looked at the interior, finding out that Zac enjoyed just buying stock vehicles and getting her driver to drive her places in them. She hadn't bothered to get her license yet, why bother? She didn't need to.
"Metroville, I own a complex there." Zac replied. Everyone, including her friends, thought that Virus Industries would be close, within driving distance, but really it was hundreds of miles away. Buddy seemed astounded that she would take him to her complex; no one had been there before.
"Isn't that..." He started
"Near New York? Yes. But it's far enough away that it shouldn't matter. Even then, the police won't mess with you as long as I'm with there. Most of the force down there's gone through my training for at least a year or two." She said, taking her turn to smirk.
"But why take me?" he asked, his confusion showing openly on his face.
"Because I have a proposition to make to you." She said, enjoying his confusion just a little too much.
Ten Years Later
Buddy Pine, now known as Syndrome, sat in an underground containment cell. Everyone thought he was dead, including the only girl to ever pay him an ounce of respect in school. He wished he could get a chance for her to see him now. She was the one who had gotten him to this point, having given him enough money to start his empire. At first they had kept in touch, her giving him advice on how to run a company, and sending him guards with basic training. Yes, he wished she could see him now.
He pulled out the only picture of her he had, one of her at graduation. It had been the only day of her life that she had allowed the school to tell her what to wear. Everyone had thought her simply rebellious, but he had known better.
The door opened, to reveal a group of guards. One pulled him off the bed he was sprawled out on, and with help, shoved a straitjacket onto him. One of them looked familiar, like one of the guy's he used to hang around with in High School. But Syndrome abandoned that thought.
All the people he had hung out with during school were living in Canada save two. His friend, and dream girl. Syndrome wished he had friends like that, One's that would stay friends with you forever, no matter what. But no, Syndrome had a bad habit of choosing ones that left you as soon as it seemed that you were about to get into some trouble.
"Come on. Start walking." One guard muttered, pushing Syndrome through the door. Syndrome thought vaguely of trying to run for it, but the lady who owned this place had guards at every turn, and it was stupidly complicated to get through. So he decided to listen to his captors, for now at least. He couldn't get out of straitjacket. He thought of a guy he had known that could, he used to do it all the time with a jacket his mom had gotten him when he was little.
"No need to push. I know how to walk." Syndrome said. He might have lost everything, but he hadn't lost his mind.
"Unfortunately, Then I could use those fancy gloves of yours on you." The guard said, pushing Syndrome again.
"Yeah right, The jock you probably were, you probably can't even work a calculator." Syndrome taunted, thinking of the first person he had actually used his gloves on. Ahh… good times...
"I was on the Hockey and Rugby team I'll have you know. And I had straight-A's in all my tech courses in High school. And if it wasn't for you, I'd be at my high school reunion right now" The guard said.
"I told you all not to talk to him. He's probably recognized you by now." Someone said.
Syndrome looked around, to see the one person he had wanted to see for ten years. Zacathia Taylor Kristoff. She walked up and punched Syndrome in the stomach.
"Sorry Zac. It Won't happen again." The guard said, lifting his helmet off. All the other guards did to, to show his entire group of friends.
"Well isn't this pleasant. The gang's all here." Syndrome said, looking around. There were a few guards that hadn't taken their helmets off, and Syndrome guessed that he probably wouldn't know them.
"Well, You've made a name for yourself, and lost everything in the process. Now what are you gonna do?" Lisa said, letting go of Syndrome's right arm, only to be replaced by another guard.
"I was hoping you would let me go, a favor for an old friend?" Syndrome laughed, knowing they wouldn't.
"Fat chance. We took you in, protected you, then you abandoned us for your own little schemes to rid the world of supers." Bill said, letting go of his left arm, also to be replaced by another guard.
"I did nothing of the sort." Syndrome said.
"That's right, because to do so, you would have had to kill everyone in your high school. Didn't you wonder why the court made you move so far away? That's because Dartmouth High was the only school where it was safe for young supers to go, without worrying about their powers getting in the way." Chad said, letting go of the straps on Syndrome's back.
"Why did you think everyone in the school thought you were weird? Because you were the only one without powers. Everyone simply kept them in check around you. That and because our little 'gang' was a group of the most powerful there when we put our powers together." Mitchell said, going to stand beside Zac, who had an uninterested look on her face. Syndrome was in awe. He hadn't even suspected! An entire school of supers, and he hadn't noticed a thing.
"Why did you think no one on the football team bothered you when you were around us? Because they were afraid of a small group of nobody's?" Zac asked. Syndrome looked at her, wishing he could do something. They had all asked good questions, and now everything made sense. Why everyone in the school was such good friends, even if none of them hung out. That never happened, especially in high school. In high school, you hung out with your friends, and utterly ignored everyone else unless needed. At Dartmouth high, it was the exact opposite. You stuck up for others if they were in trouble. Now it made sense why everyone there seemed to hate him. It was his kind that had forced them into hiding.
Syndrome looked at them, surprised. The entire school had kept a secret from him for the entire time he had lived there. These five had taken care of him, even though their entire school hated him. And they were supers!
"What are your powers, if your so powerful?" He spat at them, doubt showing on his face. Zac smiled at him, as if glad he had asked the question.
"Well. do we want to show him? or should we simply tell him?" She asked, looking at her friends beside her. They were all rolling up their sleeves. "That's what I thought." She smiled, rolling her sleeves up too, as the guard behind him pulled the strait-jacket off him. That was always a bad sign...
"Mitch, after you." Chad said. They had obviously been planning this for a very long time. Mitchell took a packet of sugar out of his pocket, and poured it over his hand. He rubbed it between his hands, the opened them and blew it all over Syndrome. Nothing happened at first, but then Syndrome felt himself shrinking. holding his hands in front of his eyes, he saw his hands were getting smaller, in fact, everything about him was getting smaller, until he was only as tall as a seven-year old would be. His costume was hanging off him, not fitting anymore. In fact, the only thing that did fit him was his underwear. Next, Chad stepped towards Syndrome, and touched his forehead. Everything went black, and he couldn't see. He heard someone else step forward, and whisper something in a British accent. It was Bill! Syndrome felt Bill's hands touch his throat, and it felt like something was being shrunk. Syndrome tried to tell them to stop, but wasn't able to. Syndrome was in a state of utter fear. Last was Lisa. He felt her pull his body close to hers, heard her whisper in his ear.
"It's okay. Don't be afraid, everything will be better soon." He wrapped his now short arms around her neck, not wanting her to do anything. He didn't want to know what her power was, didn't want anything else to happen to him. But he had asked for it, he realized it. He had broken their trust, and this was his punishment. That was his last thought, before he felt an immense pressure in his head, and lost consciousness.
Zac saw Syndrome's small body go limp in Lisa's arms. He was so small, so fragile. Mitchell had shrunk him back to a seven year old, with the memory of a twenty-seven year old.
"I've been wanting to do that to him for so long." Chad said. Chad had taken Syndrome's eyesight, something no one wanted to loose.
"Yeah, he's been asking for it for a while." Bill said. He had taken Syndrome's voice, made his voice box too small to be able to do anything.
"It was a little mean." Lisa said, holding Syndrome's small limp body in her arms. He was incredibly skinny. Lisa had taken all of Syndrome's memories. When he awoke, he would simply be a seven year old boy with no recollection of who he was, unable to see or speak.
"Yes, but necessary. The world wouldn't have been safe with him as he used to be." Mitchell said. He turned his attention to Zac. "You didn't get to do anything." Mitchell said. She had been quiet through the whole thing, simply watching.
"yes I did. I kept him from moving until he needed to." She said, lying. When she had been watching Syndrome's terrified face, she had remembered the first time her friends had demonstrated their powers on her. They had only done it temporarily, and one at a time. He had it done to him all at once, and for good. Seeing him like that, She had thought of something, the one thing that he had wanted his whole life. Lisa saw the look in Zac's eyes, and pulled her into another room, locking the boy's out.
"What did you really do to him?" She asked, still holding Syndrome. Zac smiled at her, moving a lock of red hair out of Syndrome's face.
"I gave him one thing he's wanted his whole life. I've given him superpowers." Zac said, taking Syndrome from Lisa.
"What powers?" Lisa asked, curious.
"I don't know. I just gave him some. It's up to his body as to what it is." Zac said, wondering what Rick was going to do with Syndrome. She half wanted to keep him, and raise him herself. But Rick would never agree to that. She half wished they hadn't had to do this to him, that he hadn't been so obsessed with getting back at Mr. Incredible his whole life. Then maybe she would have been allowed to fulfill another of his wishes, she could have revealed to him her one wish that would never come true. She would have been able to open up to him, and possibly reveal her true feelings for him.
"I guess it's time to go." Lisa said, opening the door, and leading Zac through it. Everyone knew she liked him, everyone knew she hadn't wanted to do this to him, leave him alone in the world, not knowing anyone. Suddenly, Lisa grabbed Syndrome's limp body from Zac, and three of the guards took hold of her arms.
"Don't do anything." Mitchell said.
"We're doing this for you." Zac's eye's widened, knowing what was going on.
Three Day's Later
Not far away from an invisible complex, A seven-year old blind boy woke up in the children's ward of a top-secret government hospital. He yawned, wondering where he was.
"Hello?" He called out. His voice was sore, but he was warm under the covers. He heard rustling from the other side of the room.
"Who are you?" A voice called out, a young girl.
"I don't know. Where are you?" The boy asked.
"I don't know either. I can't see." The girl said. The two turned, as they heard a door open, and footsteps come in.
"Zacathia! Buddy! you two are finally awake!" A nice woman said.
"You've been here for a while. You arrived together, so we figured you're friends. That's why we put you in the same room."
"We're friends?" The boy, Buddy asked.
"We could be." The girl, Zacathia, said.
"I'd like that."
"Me too." Buddy replied, smiling.
