Writers Note: SirenFoxx, thank you so much for the idea! That gives me something for Syndrome to talk about on the way to his 'friends' house. Thank you so much and I hope you don't mind that I'm going to use it! Thanks for the reviews everyone!
To anyone who's wondering, I got the idea for this story from a pic I found of Syndrome/Incrediboy on google.ca. Here's the URL: http/elfwood.lysator.liu.se/fanq/l/w/lwhyte2/syndrome.jpg.html
You should check it out; he has an awesome one of Frozone too.
Disclaimer: don't own don't sue. Leave me alone.
Buddy walked down the street, following the man. He seemed to know where he was going, which was always a good thing. Buddy on the other hand, had no clue where they were. At first he did, but two streets ago he had lost all track of where they were. And, to top it off he practically had to run to keep up with him.
"Can you slow down a little bit?" Buddy asked, running in front of Syndrome. "You may be twenty plus years, but I'm not. I'm only ten years old.
"No, actually, I can't. I didn't really want you to come in the first place, but then you'd get into trouble for being out without mom knowing, and I can't have that can I?" Syndrome said, slowing down a little. He was getting a little tired of this kid, had he actually been that annoying? No wonder Incredible had told him no. "I don't want to miss this guy; he can be very busy at the weirdest times."
"Fine, let's talk about something else! Do you have a girlfriend?" Buddy asked, smiling mischievously. Syndrome felt his heart skip a beat.
"Touchy subject kid, don't want to talk about it." Syndrome said, trying to think of something else, anything else.
"You do! What's her name? Is she pretty? Are you married? Do you like her?" Buddy started bombarding the questions out one after another, not stopping until Syndrome shot the kid with his zero-point energy gloves.
"I said I don't want to talk about it. So leave me alone." Syndrome said, setting the kid down in a tree.
"You think this will stop me? God, my memory must really suck in the future." Buddy said, simply flying out of the tree with his rocket boots. "So are you going to answer me or what? And shouldn't we start moving; you want to get there before nightfall don't you?" Syndrome could tell he wasn't going to get any quiet until he started talking.
"Fine! Yes I had a girlfriend, she was second-in-command of my island base, but then she ditched me for Mr. Incredible, happy?" Syndrome said, storming off, leaving the kid standing there speechless.
"What's her name?" Buddy asked quietly.
"Mirage; and I don't want to talk about her." Syndrome said, wiping a tear out of the corner of his eye. Buddy seemed to take this as a clue to shut up, so he simply walked beside Syndrome quietly.
Syndrome walked quietly, making sure to walk a little slower than usual so that the kid could keep up. He wished the kid hadn't brought Mirage up; now that was all he could think of. Why had she left him? He wasn't a bad person; all those years she had spent with him should have told her that. Yes he could obsess over things a little. Okay maybe a lot, but that could be a good thing right? That meant that seeing as he loved her; it was only her that he loved. Maybe she hadn't thought of that. No, she knew. That's why he had chosen her as his 2IC, she was smart.
He looked up at the house he had stopped in front of. It looked like every single other house on the block, only a little shabbier, a little more run-down.
He looked at Buddy, kneeling down to look at the kid in the eyes. "You stay here, there's a specific way you need to work with this guy, and you might mess it up. I'll wave you over when it's okay, otherwise, stay here and don't move. Don't have your hands hidden, he doesn't like that, he'll think that you have a weapon hidden." Syndrome said, standing up and taking two steps toward the house, the looking back. "Don't move, no matter what happens. I've dealt with this guy before." He said, turning back around and walking up to the door.
He knocked twice, rung the bell once, and then knocked two more times. The door opened a crack, then a little more to reveal a man.
"Name?" The man asked suspiciously.
"Syndrome." Syndrome said, crossing his arms.
"Business?"
"I need money."
"Who's the boy?"
"Buddy Pine, an associate."
"Come in, but wipe your feet." The man said, opening the door and heading down the hall. Syndrome turned around and waved Buddy over.
Buddy walked slowly over the lawn, not sure if he trusted this guy. He seemed really weird, and really jumpy.
"C'mon! We don't have all night!" Syndrome called, waving his hand urgently. Buddy sighed, running up to Syndrome. "Okay, new rules now. No sudden movements, don't speak unless spoken to, and make sure he's able to see your hands at all times." Syndrome said, hoping that the kid didn't make any mistakes.
Going into the house, Buddy found that the condition wasn't much better than the outside.
"This house should be condemned." He said, looking up at Syndrome, who smiled.
"He doesn't wanna waste the money or time. But you need to stop talking." Syndrome said as they walked into the kitchen.
"You need money then? Why should I help you?" The man asked. He was leaning against the counter, smoking a cigarette. From his posture, you wouldn't have guessed that he was jumpy, but all you needed to do was look at his eyes. They were looking at everything and anything at once, making sure nothing was missing or out of place. And he wasn't leaning just anywhere either, with a flick of his wrist he could have a butcher's knife in his hand and a barbeque lighter in the other.
"Because the fact that I know who you are, what you can do, where you are, and how you operate makes me a possible threat. I know a lot about you, more than you probably care to have known to the police. So if you don't help me, the police will." Syndrome said, his arms crossed. They were crossed in a way that the guy could see his hands.
"How much you need? What bills?" The guy asked, looking at Buddy. He seemed to trust Syndrome immediately, but still didn't trust Buddy. Syndrome had apparently noticed this already and had no plans to make him feel otherwise.
"As many of these you can manage." Syndrome said, pulling the guy's attention back to himself as he passed the guy a hundred-dollar bill.
"I'll see what I can do." The guy said, taking it and leaving the room, his eyes on Buddy for as long as he could. When Buddy was sure that the guy wouldn't be able to hear him, he sighed with relief.
"Who is that guy? He's creepy." He asked, receiving a quiet laugh from Syndrome.
"He can be, yes. And to tell you the truth, he's never told me his name and I've never asked. I think Mirage knew it, but she wouldn't tell me." Syndrome said, remembering the conversation with her he had had about this nutcase…
Syndrome walked into the kitchen, to find Mirage sitting down at one of the many long tables. He pulled one of the mini cereal boxes down out of the cupboards and tore into it. He had just pulled an all-nighter, trying to fix the bugs in the latest omnidroid plans. There were a few left, but his hunger had overwhelmed him and forced him to get up for some food.
"Hello." Mirage said pleasantly, reading a magazine. "We need to go visit your friend, the one you get all that money from." Syndrome nodded, acknowledging that he had heard her. He would have said something, but his mouth was full of dry cereal at the moment.
"You know his name, why not just use it?" Syndrome said once he had swallowed the food. It annoyed him that Mirage had found out his name, but Syndrome still hadn't.
"But you don't, and I promised him I wouldn't tell." Mirage answered, smiling slyly.
"Come on! It's not like he's gonna kill you if you tell!" Syndrome whined. "Plus, he doesn't control your paycheck."
"Actually, he does. If it wasn't for him you wouldn't have any money at all." Mirage pointed out, still reading an article in her magazine. Syndrome didn't know what to say, so he simply grabbed another mini-box of cereal and stormed out of the room, to take his frustration out on some of the guards.
The guy walked into the room, with a large black plastic bag full of something. He walked over and placed it at Buddy's feet. Syndrome pulled it over in front of himself before Buddy could look into it. Reaching in, Syndrome pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills out and passed it to the guy. Buddy was too shocked to say anything, as that was more money than he had ever thought he would ever see in his entire lifetime.
"Come back anytime." The guy said, ushering them out. Buddy held it in until they were outside, and the guy was back inside the house.
"How did he get so much money so quickly? Who is that guy? Can I have some money?" Buddy asked quickly. Syndrome shook his head.
"I don't know his name, he's never told me and probably never will. No you can't have some money, I need it for something. No I won't tell you what it is. And as to how he got the money so quickly, he's a super and it's one of his powers to duplicate stuff perfectly." Syndrome explained quietly. "But you need to shut up about it or risk getting me, you, and him arrested." Buddy nodded quickly. He didn't want to get arrested.
"What are you going to do?" Buddy asked, knowing he probably wouldn't be included in whatever Syndrome did next.
"I'm going shopping." Syndrome smiled "And you're coming with me whether mom like's it or not."
Writer's Note: sorry for this one being so short, I just liked that as the last line and decided to end it there. I'll try and make the next one longer, I promise!