AN: Okay, apologies for the rushed-ness of the last chapter, and how short this one is. These last two were... not my best work, I'll admit, and they were really difficult to write just because of the transition between the normalcy of Metroville and the craziness of what could now be called "Nomanisan Asylum". Thankfully, both have come to pass, and plot progression is a wonderful thing. I want to keep the story going and to keep it from getting stagnant and growing mold, so I pushed it through the tough times. The result was this: chapter 6. Wrote this while listening to my specially-made UV playlist and typed it up listening to "Just A Little Girl" by Trading Yesterday which may just go on that playlist yet. No complaints about lack of reviews this chapter, I'm actually pretty content with the following I've got considering that I've had 146 people following the story up to Master Plans in this month alone, which is amazing for me. I haven't even gone a day without at least three readers. Thanks for reading, everyone. It really means a lot to me. Still don't own The Incredibles.
Violet received a trio of stares as she walked into the dormitory. It was very clear from the start that the fourth super was unwelcome.
"We already have our limit of three. If we have to have four, you're not getting a bed," a blonde girl with mismatched eyes said with a frown. Violet found herself unable to keep eye contact, as she felt that one blue eye and one green was rather disconcerting.
"Actually," a slightly shrill voice remarked from behind the new hero, "Gemini is to come with me."
The blonde shook her head frantically, backing herself up against the wall. "N-no!" she squealed, her eyes opening wide. The other two, a tall brunette and a short black-haired girl with glasses, both looked mortified as well.
"Ultraviolet. I see you've arrived, finally. This is where you'll be staying. I suggest you get to know your roommates while you still can." The voice was given a face, a body- a woman with dark, upturned hair, a pair of goggles resting atop her head, a black jacket with a white S embroidered on her left lapel. The girl took the one apparently called Gemini by the wrist and dragged her out the door, making Violet take stock of her remaining roommates. They both looked vaguely familiar, but out of costume it was extremely difficult to place them.
"Well, that's not a good first impression," the short female said, a light Brooklyn accent detectable in her voice.
"Huh?"
"You walk in, and Cara carts off a friend. Cara NEVER comes in unless she's going to kill someone. I'm pretty sure she did it just to make room for you." Violet winced at the thought of having caused the death of a fellow hero, but tried not to think about it for the time being, instead focusing on her surroundings. The room they were in seemed simple enough: it looked as though it was a common room for three different bedrooms. While Violet scanned the room, the dark-haired one continued, lying down on the couch as the brunette simply gaped.
"Ultraviolet, huh? An Incredible. Just goes to show you that even the 'best' get captured."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"The villains said your nemesis made your arrival sound like the second coming or something. It's actually kind of comforting to know you're not that great."
"Oh, shut it, you bitter old leotard-clad cow. Don't listen to her, Ultraviolet. Telepathy is much more useless in crimefighting than defenses, and from what I've seen you are pretty great."
"Wait a minute-" Violet started to protest, but the small, overweight New Yorker had already become enraged.
"At least I have the decency to follow the code, you little law-breaking, snot nosed brat!"
"Who are you calling little?"
"Both of you knock it off!" Violet screamed with a tone she didn't know she possessed. "Get a grip! We aren't enemies here, got that? The enemy is Cara. She's the one killing people here." Recognition dawned on her as she realized who her roommates were, causing her to add to her speech. "She's the one breaking the law and oppressing innocent people. She's the one we should focus on taking down. We need to work together to make this work."
Despite Violet's exploitation of both of her fellow heroes' motivation, the smaller one continued to argue. "What good would teamwork do? None of us can use our powers."
"She's got a valid point. That tag you're wearing suppresses your powers so that you're as powerful as a normal human. Try and take it off, and you'll get a shock powerful enough to disintegrate an elephant."
"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little?"
"Well, gee. Why don't you try it and see? Do us all a favor." It was becoming clear very quickly that the ocularly challenged hero was not fond of Violet. The brunette, however, glared at the other Super before taking Violet's hand and shaking it. "Rita Oakley, from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Better known as Sonicwave."
"Violet Parr, pleased to meet you. I'm sure you already know tons about me, but I'm planning on staying in Metroville, California."
"Ooh, a Californian," the remaining Super drawled. "Alina Rowe, from the boring ol' Big Apple. You'd know me as Psyche if you paid attention to other Supers."
"I do. Rita, you're all about being free to make your own choices. You take down oppressive villains and people who infringe on your right to freedom. You don't follow the code, and you're nemesis of Draconia only by mutual agreement. Alina, you uphold law to the extreme and reprimand heroes and villains alike that break laws or the code. You're all about order. Your nemesis is Enigma, who frustrates you because she has no real pattern to her crimes."
"Huh." Alina frowned. "Seems like Incredibrat does know something after all."
"Stop being petty, short-stuff. It's not funny."
"Why don't you stop breaking the law, then?"
"Why don't you just shut up?" Violet spat, her patience wearing severely thin. "Both of you. I'm getting really sick of your bickering really fast, as if I didn't already have enough of a headache."
"You've got a headache? Oh, come on. You haven't even been here an hour, you can't possibly-"
"Her nemesis is Syndrome," Rita interjected. "That man could give anyone a headache in fifteen seconds or less."
"Except me," Alina responded, smirking.
"Yeah, because I swear you're like his obnoxiousness and arrogance condensed then squared!" the brunette yelled. "Just when I swear I can't get any more annoyed by you, you prove me wrong!"
"So, wait. You two have talked to him?"
"Of course," Alina responded, as though it were obvious. "We have to eat lunch with him."
"Oh, wonderful." Violet exhaled and ran her fingers through her hair.
"It ought to be interesting, actually. He's always been an elitist before, only eating with us when he was forced to. I never understood it, he's being tested all the same, it's not like he's any better-"
"Wait, tested?"
"That's what we're here for." Rita shrugged. "Cara treats us all like guinea pigs. She'll test each drug on you, record how long it takes until you scream. Some other chemical goes in, she sees how long it takes before you stop throwing up. She calls it science. It's sadism."
"It's chaos," Alina added.
"What are her motives?"
"The worst kind. Because she wants to. There's no way to predict what she'll do next. Who knows if she'll kill you or give you the comfiest bed on the face of the earth? No one. She's insane."
"She does tend more toward the sadism than the kindness, though," Rita added.
"Naturally." Violet sighed, rolling her eyes. "So how are we supposed to take her down?"
"Woah, there. What was that, again? Are you insane? Trying to take her down is suicide. I think everyone's just waiting for the government to show up or something. Not that they can do anything. I'm pretty sure we're all going to die here." Alina adjusted her glasses and closed her eyes. "Unless Syndrome takes her down, it's game over for all of us, and he'd never be able to work up the nerve."
"Nerve? What do you mean? He's got a lot of nerve. I would know."
"He's human, Violet," Rita said with a frown. "He has fears, and she exploits them. She controls all his machines. He's the only one with enough brains to figure out how to beat her, but he'll never act on any of his ideas because he's too afraid."
"What's he so afraid of that she exploits?"
"Have you ever seen how he acts around needles?" Violet shook her head.
"If you so much as put one on a table, he'll close his eyes and start clenching his fists. Point it at him, and it gets even worse. I can't imagine what she does to him."
"Probably the same stuff as everyone else," Rita said. "I feel sorry for him, annoying as he can be."
"What, she only exploits his fears and none of yours?"
"She doesn't know our fears for the most part."
Before Violet could ask any more, a loud screech rang through her ears. "What was that?"
"Notification for lunch. It's just another form of torture. Sometimes we get enough food to feed an entire third-world country for three weeks. Other times, we have to fight with our nemesis to be able to eat at all."
"Wait, what?"
"We have to fight with our nemesis for food sometimes."
"Why don't you just share with them? If it's big enough to provide any sort of nourishment, it's big enough to split."
"Share? Are you nuts? They're villains!" Alina yelled as they walked out of the room. "They'd never agree to it, besides."
"I think they'd agree to it if they knew it'd make Cara upset. She wants to see you fight, she loves seeing the pain. When you battle, she'll be looking at you with this hungry stare that makes you think she's staring at a vanilla cake donut with maple frosting and sprinkles."
"Where did THAT come from?" Alina asked, almost disgusted. "Why are you comparing Cara's delight in other people's pain to a donut?"
Violet shrugged. "I like donut comparisons."
"Well, I don't."
"Nobody likes anything you say anyway, Alina, so let her have her donut speech and you can keep your 'I hate you all' bit that you liked to pull on us so much when Gemini was around."
Alina frowned and went silent as the trio walked toward the apparent lunch room. From the other side of the door, Violet could hear what sounded like a combination of a food fight and a barroom brawl. She grimaced, wondering how bad this was really going to be.
"Let's see how well this sharing plan of yours works," Alina spat as she opened the door.
Upon seeing the other side, Violet's question was answered. What went on in the lunchroom could only be described as a maelstrom of violence. There was no food to be found, yet everyone seemed to already be either fighting or trying to break one up. The heroine was startled by how quickly the heroes had degraded into what they were now.
Out of the chaos, a familiar figure stepped forth toward her, still wearing a mask despite his more normal clothing.
"Hello, Violet," he said with a smirk. "Welcome to hell on Earth."
"Thanks. I'll make myself at home. You know, I always knew that if I ended up in Hell, you'd be the one to greet me."
"I'll take that as a compliment," he replied, his grin growing even more pronounced. "This is the lunchroom. Sometimes we eat, sometimes we fight. You never know which one it'll be until she shows up."
"Who?"
"Cara, of course. The queen of chaos herself, monarch of anarchy, whatever you want to call her."
"I think I'll stick with Cara so as not to inflate her already bloated ego," Violet remarked as she noted Cara taking a seat on a high-up platform.
"A wise choice," Syndrome responded just before their dark-haired captor screamed, "QUIET!"
Fights ceased instantly and all eyes were on Cara, who began to speak. "Today is a fighting day. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this tradition, please listen up." As heroes and villains aline started filing into their seats, the woman stared at Violet. Despite what her mind told her to do, she stared right back.
"You are to sit across from your personal nemesis. A scrap of food will be placed between you, and when the bell rings, you may decide what to do with it. I suggest you move quickly, as your nemesis will not care whether or not you starve. Those without a nemesis go hungry."
Violet blinked as Syndrome dragged her to a table far away from Cara where Rita and Alina were already sitting, alongside their nemeses. As Syndrome sat down, a rather small scrap of what appeared to be chicken fell onto a plate between them.
"Let the games begin!" A bell rung, and before her nemesis had even moved, Violet was holding the chicken. Cara smirked from her perch, expecting anything but what Violet was about to do.
Amidst the chaos and fighting over the food that had probably already fallen on the floor or was digesting in someone's stomach, Ultraviolet ripped the scrap of food in half and handed one portion to Syndrome, eating the rest.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked as he took it from her, then practically swallowed it whole.
Violet smirked as Cara's expression contorted into one of the purest rage Violet had ever seen.
"I'm denying Cara her Schadenfreude."