AN: This is taking much longer than I anticipated. Thank you to the people who review, you make my world go 'round especially when you point out what needs work. Sometimes I forget to explain things *cough the entire nemesis system cough* so I add said things where they fit to later chapters and then everything makes sense again. ^_^ The nemesis system as well as a little bit of the villain code is explained here. Chapter Three will shed some light on Violet's bizarro reactions. Sorry about that. ^-^;; And sorry about my severe comma abuse. Also, thank you to all my international readers! You make me feel special. Oh, and for anyone who doesn't know, Xerek is the guy who was originally going to be the villain of The Incredibles... but Syndrome was just that awesome. Anyway, The Incredibles isn't mine and neither is The Dark Knight which is quoted, but they are both great movies that start with the word "the." I love articles.
Ultraviolet was exhausted.
When Syndrome had told her that he wasn't holding back, he hadn't been kidding- at least with the frequency of his plots. The onslaught of mechanical menaces had nearly brought the Super to her knees. It almost seemed as though he never slept, as his attacks practically went around the clock. And when Syndrome wasn't sleeping, neither could Violet.
Violet woke up Friday morning to a comforting silence. All the rest of the week, she'd awoken to crashes and screaming, the sounds of destruction... but this morning had greeted her with bright, cheery sunshine and no demolition to be found. The air was peaceful and quiet, and Violet took the opportunity to get dressed slowly and make herself some decaf. She was immensely glad that the NSA paid heroes to save the day, as it cut back on costs for the city and made the lives of Supers much easier since they made enough to live without a second job. As it was, the Incredibles had needed Ultraviolet to be on her own and saving the day as soon as possible due to the hero shortage, and thus she'd only had a short stint with a NSA-sponsored community college in terms of her extended education. Violet would've liked to have gone to school more, but there were also people to save. As most Supers did, Violet put the needs of the many above her own desires, and here she was, waiting for a deafening crash outside her window to signal another of her nemesis's attacks.
About halfway through the cup, Violet's "danger sense" went off. Better known as a Super's sixth sense (or seventh in some cases), the sense warned Supers that something dangerous, usually a villain, was heading their way. Violet had found that many people were missing that sense or had grown so used to it that it no longer functioned. One of those people was her father. The Golden Age had been so laden with crime that he rarely had a moment's rest and had thus no longer could tell the difference. Elastigirl had a slightly less severe "saving people complex", and thus hers still functioned when her children were in danger.
This feeling was particularly strong, and Violet quickly got ready and finished her coffee. On her way out the door, she realized she'd almost forgotten her mask. Grabbing the purple accessory and dashing back out the door, Ultraviolet rushed toward the area where her nemesis was probably attacking.
The streets were surprisingly clear for late-morning Metroville, but Violet didn't need to travel far to find Syndrome anyway, as his architectural carnage was obvious. Apparently he and the concept of the Omnidroid had made amends, as he was wreaking havoc with something that looked very similar to the one her family had faced. Of course, he was also controlling it from atop the roof of a building, so maybe he'd just decided to take more precautions and disable the artifical intelligence.
Ultraviolet severely hoped not. The Omnidroid was easier to confound than it would seem, but Syndrome himself was a brilliant tactician in fights as she'd found out in the past week.
The heroine took the elevator to the roof of the building to find Syndrome sitting near the edge, engrossed in his destruction. She noted how close he was to the ledge, and how easy it would be to just push him off. Violet quickly shook these thoughts out of her head. No killing, she reminded herself, not even him. Two wrongs don't make a right. Besides, if you ever need to come to someone smart for help, he's obligated to do it since he's officially your nemesis and villains really find that whole hero/villain teamup thing ironically funny.
Even while he was nearing thirty, he still acted like a kid; or at least when he wasn't being a manipulative, sadistic supervillain. Ultraviolet was extremely peeved at her nemesis for throwing off her sleeping habits, and began to shout at him.
"Do you have ANY idea how long you've been keeping me up with these plots of yours? I've got half a mind to just call up Mr. Incredible and have him take you on just so you'll knock it off!"
The redhead pressed a button on the controller and set it aside as he stretched. The Omnidroid kept moving without the direction of the device, and Ultraviolet smirked inwardly. It still had artificial intelligence.
"Ah, Ultraviolet. So we meet again."
"For the eleventh time in three days! Haven't you ever heard of moderation?"
"I didn't know you were keeping track," Syndrome replied with a cocky grin.
Ultraviolet rolled her eyes. "So. Why the Omnidroid? Don't you learn from your mistakes?" The Super inched toward the control, hoping to get him on a monologue.
"It's not programmed the same," he snapped. "It only functions on its own when I allow it to, and even then it won't attack me."
"Unless it has a severe malfunction," the hero said under her breath, then continued with her attempt to get him to rant. "You never explained why the parts of your costume that used to be white are silver now, either. Everything's the same except for that color change. What's with that?"
"I don't plan to tell you any time soon." Syndrome stepped in front of the control and advanced on Ultraviolet, who took a step back.
"Why haven't you killed me yet? You could've easily done so at any given time, from what I know of the villain code-"
"You don't know how this 'nemesis' thing works at all, do you?"
"Do I look like a villain to you?"
"You could if you were a little more angry," he remarked with a smirk, then continued. "There's a no-kill clause on both sides of the issue when one's nemesis is involved. I pretty much had to follow the code, seeing as I wanted to be your official nemesis. If I hadn't done it officially, some newbie villain could just come along and bring you to your knees, and I can't let that happen."
"Why? Is it because I'm an Incredible and you're a genocidal maniac?"
Syndrome grinned. "Kind of. You've got more of a history with me than any other villain, and yes, you're an Incredible. I want to have the title of 'The Only One Allowed To Defeat You.' I also had to follow the code because I helped write it."
"You wrote the villain code." Ultraviolet stared at her nemesis. Despite her parents and Frozone all being major contributors to the Code of Heroes, she somehow hadn't expected Syndrome to have anything to do with an organized way for villains to act. It didn't seem very... likely. From what she could tell, her nemesis preferred the ways of chaos, and any organized manner of behavior seemed odd.
"Well, it was Xerek and I and a few others. Anyway, one of the most major rules of the code is to not specifically go after your nemesis. There's an entire section dedicated to it."
"Why wouldn't a villain want to kill their greatest enemy?"
"To villains like me, who pursue this type of villainy for fun and not profit, a nemesis is not someone we want to kill. Enemy isn't a good word to describe it: more like arch-rival. When we declare nemesis status, we're not saying 'watch your back, because as soon as you turn it you'll be dead in a heartbeat.' We're saying 'you'd better be ready to save the day, because I'm going to try and unfurl my plot and I expect you to stop me.' A nemesis is our foil, our reason for existence and villainy. As one of my role models once said, 'You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun.' Without you heroes saving the day, putting it in danger would quickly lose its appeal."
Ultraviolet looked up. She'd been so focused on his reasoning that she hadn't noticed their proximity. The Super stepped back, but her nemesis only walked forward in response. "Makes you uncomfortable, doesn't it?"
"If it did, why would I tell you?" The heroine formed a shimmering violet force field around herself and headed toward the controller. As she did so, however, Syndrome began to shake his head frantically. "That's not a good idea..."
"Wh- AAH!" Ultraviolet screamed as the Omnidroid brought one of its mechanical appendages down on her forcefield. It had apparently climbed the building and was now gunning for the hero trying to control it. The building groaned with the weight of the robot and swayed slightly.
The Omnidroid attacked her forcefield until it gave way, and she blacked out momentarily. When she regained consciousness, she found herself moving through the building's debris, though she didn't know which way she was heading.
Suddenly she was out of the wreckage, floating above it all. There were arms around her waist, and she frowned. "Why did you save me?"
"Wreaking havoc would be boring without a foil. I said that already."
"Then you may want to knock it off for a while. I'm sleep deprived..."
"I'll give you a week to recuperate, and then I'll figure something out. Right now we need to shut it down... the controller is gone and there isn't an alternate one."
"You never learn, do you?" Ultraviolet asked with a frown. "How are we supposed to beat it? I'm not all of my family in one handy package, you know."
"There is one way." Syndrome flew in close to the Omnidroid.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Ultraviolet shrieked, but Syndrome shushed her. "It won't hurt me, I already said that." The villain shot a small bolt of zero-point energy into a barely visible hole on the robot, and a sizable hole opened up in the side, large enough for Ultraviolet to slide in.
"Get in there and do whatever you think you'll need to in order to shut it down. If you can, keep the outer layer intact. Please."
Ultraviolet smirked and rolled her eyes as she climbed into the hole. "Right."
Syndrome backed away from the machine as loud clunking noises and shouting from the heroine reverberated from inside of it. The inventor winced at the sound of his creation's destruction, but it was necessary for his plan. Soon, Ultraviolet would be his for the taking, and-
Syndrome's scheming was rudely interrupted by the communicator located on his gauntlet's incessant beeping.
"I'm kind of busy right now!" he shouted at whoever was calling him over the ruckus.
"Your time free is running low," a voice replied darkly from the other end.
"Right," the villain replied, disbelieving. "I know it's you, Cara, and you don't run my life."
"Not yet, but I will soon," the girl replied, and apparently hung up.
"Who was that?" Ultraviolet asked, her hair slightly frizzy and her outfit stained with what appeared to be oil as she exited the quickly malfunctioning robot. Syndrome pulled her out and backed away as he rolled his eyes. "When did it become your business?"
"Around the same time Tony became yours," Ultraviolet spat.
"Fair enough," he replied as they landed. "That was an old friend who's not so friendly anymore." Syndrome's stomach growled. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get something to eat." Within a second of his rocket boots activating again, he slammed into a panel of violet light.
"You're not going anywhere until you start explaining."
Syndrome glared at the former Incredible. "I don't think I'm the one that needs to explain."
"What do you mean?" Ultraviolet asked, frowning.
"I'm the first villain you ever helped defeat. I'm a huge menace, and I could easily plot to harm you, even kill you... why haven't you even made an ATTEMPT on my life? You could've and should've when we first met again or any time after that."
"One, you're part of my past, I can't just kill you; and two, unlike you, I have morals."
"Oh, I have morals," Syndrome retorted. "You've just never seen them."
"Okay, well. You and your invisible morals are going to stay here and answer my questions-"
"Oh, I know what it is. You're afraid, is that it? You could kill me if your fear didn't overcome you. You don't want to make an attempt on my life for fear you'll fail and I'll go after your family. You're very good at hiding it, but not good enough."
Syndrome never finished his 'psychoanalysis' of Ultraviolet, as she leapt nimbly, furiously at the supervillain. Before he could even think to react, she had knocked him down and punched him in the face.
"Ow! Hey- stop! Agh!"
"I HATE YOU!" she screamed as she punched him again and again. "You think you're always right and you just don't understand like you think you do!"
"AGH!" the inventor yelped as his nose began to bleed.
"That's what you deserve." Syndrome touched his nose gingerly as Ultraviolet got up to leave. Before she got more than a few steps, he had frozen her with zero-point energy.
"I don't think I'm always right, I just usually am. Maybe this time I was wrong, seeing as you seemed completely willing to hurt, even maim me when I said you were afraid of me. But at the same time, you also tried to make me shut up when I was revealing one of your flaws. I would suggest not doing that again, or I'll consider breaking the code. Now run along, I have other things to do." With this final comment, Syndrome tossed Ultraviolet in the direction she came and flew off.
"Ugh," the hero groaned, her costume grimy and her confidence deflated. "What an a- what's this thing?" Ultraviolet halted mid-curse and examined the small, laminated piece of paper she'd discovered between her main costume and her belt. It was something like a business card, but it had no information save for a number and a short note on the backside. "In case some snotty little brat defeats you and you need help taking them down. Call beforehand as well," it read.
Ultraviolet frowned. In the time that she'd been beating up Syndrome, he hadn't been concentrating on her words, but giving her his number without her noticing. Brilliant.