The ten months dragged by. Buddy went up before court twice on appeal from Mr. Incredible. The older Super wanted Buddy in prison for the rest of his life. But insufficient evidence was found. Two prime pieces of information were what protected Buddy from the murder charge. One, Buddy had not directly killed Gazerbeam, he put the man in a situation where death was possible. Two, he had been seventeen when he had begun his testing and that was when Gazerbeam had died, so Buddy was tried as a minor for that.
Finally the day came when Buddy would go up before a judge, hopefully for the last time. It was a check-up sort of trial, where the men keeping up on Buddy's interactions with the outside world would report on how he had behaved and what all he had done. Buddy had done nothing but what he was allowed to do. The Judge formally ended the house arrest and decreed that Buddy be subject to weekly check-ups. Buddy, his hair short and his clothes plain, stepped out of the courthouse an almost free man.
Reporters swarmed him immediately, and he found himself answering questions he never knew existed.
"Why all of this, Syndrome?"
"Well, I'm not sure-"
"Do you currently have any Supers at your home?"
"No, of course not!"
"Are you a Super?"
"No-"
"Syndrome? What is the story behind your name?"
"It sounded-"
"Is there a Mrs. Syndrome? Is she embarrassed by all the sudden publicity?"
"There is no-"
"Mr. Incredible hates you for killing his friend and almost killing him, are there any other planned deaths in your future?"
"I'm a changed ma-"
"Why would you target Mr. Incredible?"
The last question stopped Buddy in his tracks. He knew the answer, but he also didn't. It was too based in emotion to even consider putting in the press.
"No further comments." Buddy sighed and walked away, holding his head high so they wouldn't think they had beaten him. But his eyes did not focus on where he was going. They moved as though reading while he paced through his thoughts.
An hour later and Buddy had still not found his way home. He instead, had ended up in the projects. Poor families all around him were turning in for the night. He stopped in front of a small yellow townhouse. For a moment, he almost didn't recognize it. It was the house where he had lived in as a kid. His mind flashed back to when he was ten, the year he met Mr. Incredible in person.
He had never been a real fan of the Supers, he appreciated what they did, but not much more. But then his mom got sick. She soon moved out of the house into a hospital, where she was bed-bound. One day, Buddy was visiting her, playing with a model car, when he saw Elastigirl walk by the door. He looked at his mom, who was asleep, and put his car on the floor. He ran to the doorway and looked into the hallway. He saw Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible with a bunch of sick kids. The kids were so happy, Buddy almost couldn't tell they were sick.
He looked back at his mom, and saw her brow wrinkle in pain in her sleep. He walked over to her side.
"Mom, I'm gonna be a Super. That'll make you happy." He said, holding her hand. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times. For a moment, Buddy was sure she hadn't heard him, but she had.
"A Super? Buddy, you're already a super genius. You're the smartest boy I've ever met. And that makes me really happy." She said quietly. Buddy smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Now, why don't you run out and ask a doctor if your dad is here yet?" She asked. Buddy nodded. He paused right before he left the room.
"I love you, Mom." He smiled.
"I love you too, Buddy." She sighed and closed her eyes.
Buddy left the room, not knowing that he had just had the last conversation with his mother that he would ever have.
"Excuse me?" A light voice dredged Buddy from his reminiscing. He looked up to see a young woman with long black hair. His heart fluttered for a moment. She was smirking at him, her dark blue, almost violet looking eyes mocking him and a way he really liked. "Are you Buddy Pine?"