Chapter One: Blindfolds

Jinxter: It just seems sort of stupid to keep wondering on about the futility of life, you know?

EngineerOverlord: Obviously, you're beneath our extremely heightened intellectual conversations. ;)

Jinxter: LOL!

Shadows_and_Shocks: intellectual conversations, yeah right. Since when have we ever discussed anything other than death and destruction?

EngineerOverlord: We discussed the super trials at great length yesterday.

bottlerocket101: OH NOT AGAIN! Overlord, I'm starting to think your obsesssed with supers.

EngineerOverlord: I'm nothing of the kind.

bottlerocket101 *you're **obsessed

Shadows_And_Shocks: That was kind of fun yesterday. I didn't like talking about the Buddy Pine trials though.

EngineerOverlord: Oh? Why not?

Shadows_And_Shocks: because he's going to get off scot free, and then I'm going to have to throw something at the tv.

Jinxter: LOL! I actually think he's kind of cute. :D

EngineerOverlord: You're right, I think he's pandering to the judge too much. The whole innocent act seems to be working awfully well though, don't you think? :/

EngineerOverlord: Cute?

Shadows_And_Shocks: My dad will probably throw the tv. And omg, he is not cute. He's buck-toothed and freckled and needs to stop wearing pinstripes. -.-

EngineerOverlord: Somebody's pretty riled…

Jinxter: I think he's cute, with big cheeks and he's pretty buff. I think he works out. OMG he looks amazing in pinstripes! XD

Shadows_And_Shocks: Are you forgetting he killed dozens of innocent people and wanted to kill even more? Or are you one of those people who writes love-letters to psychos?

Jinxter: wow, calm down Shocky.

bottlerocket101: OMFG CAN WE STOP HAVING THE SAME CONVERSATIONS OVER AND OVER?! -_-

EngineerOverlord: I agree. Change of subject?

Shadows_And_Shocks: Whatever. I need to go to bed.

bottlerocket101: Aww, cya Shocky!

Jinxter: I think you're the only person in this whole chatroom who still has a bedtime, LOL.

Shadows_And_Shocks: Thank you, Jinx, for reminding me of my status as the youngest chatter here. Your tact and sensitivity astounds us mere mortals.

EngineerOverlord: :) Bye, Shadows.

Jinxter: LOL! Later, Shocky-poo~! Don't stay up past your bedtime! xD

Shadows_And_Shocks: uggggghh.

Shadows_And_Shocks: I'll try to be on tomorrow, okay?

Shadows_And_Shocks has left the chatroom.

Shadows_And_Shocks, also known as Invisigirl, also known as Violet Parr, leaned back against the headboard of her bed and rubbed her eyes distractedly. The digital blue glow of the computer screen in front of her bleached her fine features and deepened the puffy circles beneath her eyes, although it couldn't destroy her prettiness entirely. At sixteen, Violet was a slender girl, with elfish features and large, unusually colored eyes – eyes so dark blue they became a rich purple. She closed her laptop lid and heard her computer powering down, the gentle motor huffing warm air onto her thighs. It was very late; the clock on her bedside table read 2:34 A.M, and she had school tomorrow.

Violet rolled over and slid her laptop under her bed, and then cuddled under her blankets to get some warmth into her arms. Going back to school wasn't something she looked forward to, not again. Tomorrow would be the third day of school, and ever since her social out casting last year, her recent days had been a sort of living torture. It wasn't physical – and she was grateful. Slaps and punches she was afraid of, terrified that she would suddenly lash out instinctively and use her powers. But it was the emotional aspect of it all. The snide whispers, the cruel snickering, it all gouged deep scars into her teenaged self. And some analytical part of her jaded mind told her that she was being melodramatic, that all teenagers went through this, but it didn't stop it from hurting.

Her online friends, however, they helped.

She had discovered them purely by accident, of course. A few months ago, she wouldn't have dared talk to anyone at such great length, but after weeks of growing accustomed to the rapid-fire, intellectually challenging discussions, she felt as though she could face the school year. And of course, it hadn't worked. School had been every bit as hard and painful as last year, even more so, perhaps, since it was still early on in the year and the bullies wanted to set their boundaries.

Violet had separated her friends into three categories: people like Kari, who talked on obsessively about hot men and giggled over magazines, people like her brother, who loved to needlessly antagonize, and…Engineer.

Engineer. Ah, yes, a man she knew only by his username.

He was smart, that much was certain. And there was a dark humor to him as well, a sort of mocking condescension which could be extremely funny late at night. Sometimes she flattered herself by saying he liked her, since he did spend more time talking to her than anyone else, but she knew he was probably some lonely nerd in his mother's basement. Part of her knew it. The sensible side, the side which wanted to toss her dark hair back defiantly and take the teasing in stride.

She rolled over in bed and buried her face in a pillow. What was wrong with her? There was turmoil in her private life and she was getting a crush on lines of text.

At least her 'public' life was better than ever. Invisigirl was just beginning to establish herself as the second half of the Dynamo Duo, which was a partnership Violet had formed with her younger brother, Dash. Between Dash's incredible racing speed and Violet's subtle invisibility and shield art, the two of them made an extremely good pair to fight crime. It was always sort of awkward, though, having to be home by six o'clock because of dinner and homework. So her superhero activities were limited to three hours a day, which people would eventually know as the mark of children in school. But it was nice while it lasted.

Her father, while usually wrapped up in the scandalous Buddy Pine trials, was finally back to his old self – the self her mother knew well but was almost foreign to the children. He fought crime almost all day, which didn't exactly put food on the table, but he was beginning to get some of his old endorsements back from companies. One of the things her father hated about the superhero business was the needless posturing in front of cameras, just so he could earn a few bucks to feed his family. Violet, personally, had been psyched when she saw herself on the small advertisement in the newspaper, but had hid it well. Supers were supposed to be humble, and it was an attribute she was still learning.

But so far, things were good. So long as she kept her brain out of her sixteen-year-old self and into her superhero alter ego, things were fantastic.

The chat helped her cope. That's what she liked to think. She'd only be on there until the teasing died down, and then she'd leave. It would be easy, if it weren't for EngineerOverlord.

Who was he?

That question nagged relentlessly at her until she fell asleep.

Buddy Pine steepled his fingers and glared at the computer screen, grinding his teeth in the darkness of his posh house. There wasn't a sound except the electronic humming of various inventions in his basement, and not a light except the bright glow of the screen in front of him.

It wasn't worth it, was it?

Talking online was severely draining, and thinking out every little thing he typed was boring as hell. Not to mention frustrating to decode the abbreviations and emoticons, but once he got the hang of it, it was rather like slipping into another world. Some of the people were downright ridiculous, yammering on about anything and everything until their fingers bled and he felt like smashing his forehead on the keyboard. Jinxter in particular was incredibly annoying, although it was absurdly flattering to hear someone call him cute. He considered himself more classically handsome than cute, but that was her opinion. The media-attentive billionaire kicked his heels up on the desk in front of him and leaned back in his ergonomically designed swivel chair, examining the ceiling.

It was worth it, he decided. Just for the knowledge that he was toying with the daughter of his once-idol-now-enemy.

Violet Parr.

It had to be breaking some sort of moral law, to tinker with a sixteen year old girl this way. Especially without her knowing who he was – but didn't that make it oh-so-delicious? He smirked in the darkness, shaking his head. Children were so easily manipulated, really, but he couldn't deny he had some rather inventive conversations with the teenaged super. She was quick, and very careful not to say anything incriminating about her age, occupation, or location. She wasn't stupid.

Which just made his amusing little distraction so much more interesting.

That's all she was really, a distraction. His trial was taking up most of the media's time, and he adored the publicity. Reporters were hammering on his door, people were snapping photographs of him, and there was a steadily growing pile of fan mail next to his desk, which he read occasionally to perk himself up. The country was obsessed with him, and he had learned that playing the bad-boy-trying-to-reform made him more of a celebrity than being a superhero. Of course, supers all over the world had come out in staunch disapproval of his antics, demanding justice and his imprisonment, blah blah blah. So very utterly boring.

Which was what made people like Violet so nicely distracting. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl had come out in several press conferences, loudly accusing Syndrome of death, destruction, and paying off the entire government system. He was, of course. He had the judge, jury, and even the prosecutor in his back pocket, but he liked drawing things out. It made everything far more interesting, like a big messy soap opera instead of an actual trial. There was no such thing as an incorruptible human being – all you needed was the right sum of money.

His eventual acquittal would be excellent revenge upon the Incredibles – the final coup. He would teach them that humanity was nothing more than a slab of meat to be butchered and sold, part and parcel, to the highest bidder. It delighted him. But it was an indirect revenge, nothing personal, just prodding their faith in the people they protected. Nothing more. It wasn't enough, not for what they did to him. They destroyed his life, taking his girl and his dreams, and left him with nothing but a cheap act to parade in front of the world. Oh, the cheap act was keeping him fed and full of attention, but it was growing wearisome.

His boredom was excruciating.

Enter Violet, his sweet little entertainment. Part of the fun was gone since she didn't know who he was, but that was what added a whole other aspect to it. He had blindfolded her, essentially, blindfolded her and bound her to some sort of crutch – the internet. A blindfolded Violet was a rather intriguing thought, and Syndrome smirked again in the darkness, tapping a finger against his lips. He had originally started to destroy her systematically, taking her down and turning her against her family, but he had discovered that she was still at that halfway point – half girl, half woman. She could twist and turn against the superhero lifestyle, or she could embrace it fully and completely Either way, she would eventually tip and fall right into his lap.

It would be dangerous to taunt the Incredibles like this. But he was a magnet for danger.

A/N: Hi everyone! So, this is…sort of a Frankenstein project. My friend Julia and I watched You've Got Mail together, and it got me thinking about a Synlet version of this. :3 Soo, yeah. I didn't MEAN for it to be dark towards the end, but it is Syndrome, and he's a sort of dark dude. It's awfully late here, so any typos, inconsistencies, or whatever, that's all mine. :D Hope you guys enjoy!