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"Launching this baby! One for the money..." Syndrome listened intently to the banter over the communicator on his desk, peering out over the city from the large window view he'd been given; The tallest skyscraper in the city, a mile off from the discombobulator's jamming signals that penetrated everything within his view. He'd already witnessed several supers being drained of their powers with no less than a poker face. As much as he would've liked to enjoy the moment, Viral's ramblings of world domination continually grounded his otherwise good mood. He'd been tolerable for the first few weeks, and completely ridiculous for the last few. Syndrome wanted little to do with him now and was patiently waiting for the moment in which he could stop calling the man his co-conspirator.

"Two for the show!" He'd turned his attention from the window and chanced a look at the many television screens decorating the room. The city had been swept into a panic and supers everywhere appeared to be losing their minds while he himself was pictured as 'wanted, dead or alive'. It was the kind of chaos he lived for, and yet.. something just didn't feel right. Perhaps it was all the cackling in the background that wasn't his own, but he didn't have long to ponder it over. On a small screen, he could see Violet staring at her hands and Dash running off with the rest of the family to relative safety while they worked out a plan.

"Three to get ready!" He glanced up at the sky, and the relative direction in which he'd seen the Incredible family through the window. He'd expected to make the assumption that the beam would hit that area first but he hadn't expected his heart to drop out of his chest, or the world to stop for several moments at the realization of it. Without a moment's hesitation, his hand hit the communicator button.

"Wait a minute." Viral stood in a building not far off from Syndrome's waiting patiently for the trigger to go off. The sudden stop had caused his head to turn towards the screen that belonged to his co-worker, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"We haven't spent the better half of your life building this damned thing for you to chicken out at the last second, Syndrome. Your indecision is wearing me thin, and I say that with the utmost respect. Either you're with us, or you're not." The target audience was not watching his screen however; his eyes were on the window. He could hear the anger in the man's voice, but the situation was not registering. "Make the call."

"Not yet. Just--"

"We're done waiting! Activate it!" Syndrome's recoil hadn't even been heard over the sound of the machine getting ready to take its first shot. Damnit, if he could just tell her to move! The ultimate flaw in a flawless plan, and for a moment he wished he'd never made it. While the machine charged itself up, he took several steps back, breath coming heavy. Stupid plan.. stupid plan...

"You're gonna hate yourself in the morning, Buddy..." He didn't take the time to wait for a miracle and took it upon himself to deliver the message, smashing through the large window and activating his boots to catch the fall and get him on a pattern towards his final destination.

"What are you doing?! You wanna die!?" Came the voice of Viral crackling over Syndrome's wrist communicator, but he would hear none of it. The screaming became ever-weaker as he got closer to the dreaded field of discombobulation, a welcome relief and a warning of things to come. "You idiot! You'll never ma--!" The sound had finally turned into a fine fuzz, various parts of the wrist-mechanics failing or not working as intended, and eventually sparking from over-exhaustion. Damnit, I won't make it to the ground at this rate... He pushed full-throttle on the sparking rocket boots, praying to whomever existed that something good would happen in his life for once instead of falling to an unceremonious death after saving nobody.

The street that Violet was poised in had emptied out, leaving her alone in feeble attempts to call upon powers that refused to cooperate. She was in a panicked state and could hardly hear the sounds of her brother calling to her to hurry up. What had happened to her? What was going on?! She hadn't heard Syndrome's yelling in the distance and had barely looked up in time to see him barreling towards her at high speed. He'd managed to take her by the shirt, using what was left of the boots' functionality to drag the both of them just out of the beam's explosion range. They ended up going tumbling as all of his gadgets finally lost power; Violet tumbled into a grassy area and Syndrome slammed ungracefully into a wall. For several moments he was unsure if he could muster the will-power to get up through all the pain he'd been jarred with... but at least I'm not dead.

Though he couldn't shake the feeling that something was most definitely broken, he'd stumbled over to Violet who was in the process of getting up herself. "Vi! Over here!!" Dash's voice had caught the attention of both of them and together they clamored over into the safety of a nearby alley as the lazer-beam finally hit the ground, rumbling buildings for miles around and making the two fleeing bodies lose their footing. Elastigirl had not hesitated to pull her daughter into her arms, asking her a multitude of questions.

Before Syndrome could recover, however, he was picked up by the back of the neck and thrown into a nearby wall. Even without his powers, Mr. Incredible was a force to be reckoned with. In the next instant he found himself choking to death in Mr. Incredible's grip, limbs grappling feebly for any chance at escape. "I should kill you right now, like I could've in that godamned hospital you dirty little--"

"Dad, no! He saved my life!!" Violet protested, fighting out of her mother's arms.

"And he'll kill a thousand more before this is over!" Came the quick, thoughtless reply. Syndrome was still gasping for words, struggling painfully in the man's iron grip. The world around him seemed to shrink slowly...so this was it?

"Bob, enough of this! We've got more important things to think about, just put him down." Came the voice of Elastigirl, pulling at Mr. Incredible's arm.

"I... can turn it.. off..." Syndrome managed to choke out. The statement caused him to get dropped immediately and he sat there on hands and knees for several moments gasping for air and fighting unconsciousness.

"How." His voice was dark and demanding. When the answer wasn't immediately forthcoming he reached down towards him again, only to be blocked by Violet's angry gaze. "Get out of the way."

"People change, dad." The statement had caused him to go into a rage.

"How naive can you all be? He's just hoodwinked everyone in the damned city! He's lied through his teeth, stole your powers, killed thousands of innocent bystanders and you still think the little b*****d's changed his mind about killing you?!"

"And by coming here, he's as screwed as the rest of us!" Violet turned her back, wrenching Syndrome's sparking communicator off of his wrist and shoving it in her father's face. He cringed lightly as it sparked once again, wizzing uselessly.

"Viral works for himself." Syndrome gasped from behind Violet, coughing up blood from the close brush with death. "He makes a living off of stealing others' technology and I was a ******** moron to think I'd be any different." He struggled into a sitting position, back leaned heavily against the brick wall. Violet had rushed to his side, confident that her father wouldn't try anything else for the time being. Syndrome forced a smile, causing his attackers eyes to flash in a rage. "I want revenge, Mr. Incredible, don't get me wrong...but this? I don't want this. I had very little to do with the end product." As he finished his sentence the lazer beam hit the ground again, rocking the ground beneath them violently.

"This isn't Syndrome. This is Buddy Pine fixing what he's ******** up." He coughed for a moment, taking another to catch his breath again. "You can kill me later if you want, since God knows I hardly deserve to be alive after this."

"If you're done with your monologue you can answer me." Even with the situation as dire as it was, Syndrome couldn't help but smile as he was caught doing what he despised yet again.

"It can be turned off, but there's no simple switch here, Viral was too smart for that."

"So how is it done then?" Elastigirl stepped forward, herself getting tired of the runaround. Syndrome sighed, nodding.

"You're not gonna like this."

"I don't like you right now."

"City-limits." He cut to the chase, struggling to his feet and brushing himself off. "The beam that has your powers only extends as far as the boulevard on the north side and he can only keep your powers for as long as you're underneath the beam. Get out of the beam, get your powers back. He'd be useless."

"And this death ray?"

"I'm still working on that one."

"What?!" Mr. Incredible lunged forward and Syndrome ducked out of the way before he was caught in the death grip again. Elastigirl and Violet in turn jumped on their father in a feeble attempt to hold him back.

"Look, I've only been a good guy for about twenty minutes here. I've still got a lot of personal issues to sort through! One plan at a time, alright?" Syndrome put his hands up, taking several steps backwards.Mr. Incredible broke free of his family, spinning around on his heel.

"Let's go. The sooner this is over, the better. Watch your backs." With that said, the family began their journey through the city, turning the corner and leaving Syndrome in the company of Violet who had not immediately followed.

"I'm, uh.. glad you changed your mind." She smiled shyly from behind her hair. He wasn't entirely sure how to take what she'd said or the way in which she'd said it.

"I'll find a way to make up for this.. that's a promise." He sighed, taking in the depth of what he'd just said. He took his first step forward, heading after the group of supers. Violet fell into step beside him, jumping up to plant a tiny kiss on his cheek.

"I know you will." She ran off immediately to join her family, leaving him at a dead-stop. For several moments he stood there, completely lost and confused by what had just occurred. Did she just.. she did. Why did she do that? A mechanical spark on his wrist jarred him back into reality, cringing as it singed whatever it touched. He jogged after them, making every effort to clear his mind from then on.

This is gonna be a long night...