So, this is my first Sky High fic. I hope it isn't too horrible...reviews really do help, too! *hint hint*
I sat in the dark room, just waiting. I had done this lots of times before, and it was nothing scary. In just a few minutes, Dad would come and open the door to let me out, and we would go on with our lives, just as soon as the scary people left. Dad always fought them off, and then we would move to a new house where he would set up his lab again.
Twiddling my thumbs, I thought about my birthday next week. I was turning ten soon, and Dad was going to get me a special present. What would it be? A new puppy? I wanted one of those. I liked puppies.
I heard the door beginning to open and stood up, excited. But when the person entered the room, I backed away in fear. This was one of the men that chased us all over the world, one of the ones that wanted to stop Dad from doing his work.
"Wh-what do you want?" I asked, my little voice shaking.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," the man said, holding his hand out to me.
"Who are you?"
He smiled, and it was nice. "I'm the Commander. What's your name?"
"S-Sparrow," I whimpered. "Where's my daddy?"
The Commander knelt down in front of me. "He's going to be gone for a while. My wife and I are going to take care of you."
I sniffled and let a few tears fall down my face as he picked me up and carried me away. He then passed me off to a nice-looking woman who flew across an ocean with me. Somewhere along the way, I fell asleep, and I woke up in a comfy bed in the middle of a sunny room.
"Oh, good, you're awake!" the woman said, now dressed in a skirt and matching top rather than her supersuit. She sat down at the edge of my bed and smiled warmly. "My name is Josie."
A boy with brown hair and a little redheaded girl appeared in the doorway.
"And these are Will and Layla," Josie said.
"Hi!" Will said, walking up to me. "Come on, I'll show you the house!"
My new family was known as the Strongholds, and they raised me alongside them. When I was old enough, they explained the concept of good and evil, and I realized that my father had been on the bad side. They told me that he was in prison for life, and that it was likely that I would never be able to see him. Ever.
So I tried to forget that life, and instead lived happily as Will's sister. We went to school, and I got my powers. He discovered that Layla made plants grow, and never got his powers. And even though I was a year older than him, Steve and Josie decided to send us to Sky High at the same time. So, when Will was entering as a freshman, I was entering as a sophomore. Which wasn't much better, considering that I didn't know anyone other than Will's friends, who were all freshmen. This was all made worse by the fact that they had already made me start first grade a year late, so really, I should have been a junior.
Oh well. Win some, lose some, I guess.
"Will?" Steve yelled. I heard him walk up the stairs to Will's room and sighed. I didn't want to start school. This day was going to be awful, like every other first day.
With a yawn, I rolled out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth, taking in the pale face and dark hair that I had gotten from my father. It was funny that I couldn't remember what he looked like anymore. It was probably for the best, though; Steve and Josie had always said he was a disgusting little man. But what did that make me?
Shrugging away the foreboding feelings, I slapped on some makeup and rushed to get dressed, not wanting to look completely awful on my first day. I managed to fish a strapped black corset and a pair of black skinny jeans out of my dresser and put them on, hopping down the stairs with my pants still half off.
When I walked into the kitchen, I found Will and Layla watching the Commander and Jetstream defeat a giant robot on the news. No big deal.
"They are good," Will said with what I sensed to be a bit of self-loathing in his voice. He turned the TV off and got up to find his bag.
"Fighting crime this early in the morning?" I asked, twiddling the ring in my nose. I still couldn't believe that Steve and Josie had let me get it, but it seemed like they didn't really care what I did anymore. They were going to be the Stronghold Three with Will, and I was going to sit on the sidelines as Sparrow, That Weird Kid.
"Yup." He answered.
"Still nothing?" I picked up an apple and took a bite as we walked out of the house.
"Nope."
"You know, I know it's our first day, but I already can't wait to graduate and start saving mankind," Layla said, trying to lighten the mood. "And womankind. And animal kind."
"And the rainforest," Will offered.
"Of course!" Layla agreed. "I just feel really good about this year."
"That makes one of us," I mumbled.
"You aren't looking forward to it?" she asked in that nice little Layla voice.
"Everyone will have heard about my dad," I said flatly. "It was easy to blend in at a normal school for a year. But something tells me that Sky High will be a bit different."
But in reality, I wasn't very good at blending in anywhere. I was almost expelled last year for fighting, and I almost thought that the principal had me pegged as a super by the end of the year. Steve managed to keep it all quiet, but I knew that the civilian community was suspicious.
We reached the stop and the bus pulled up immediately. I walked right on, keeping my head down as I sat in the back while Will had a conversation with the driver.
"Everyone, it's Will Stronghold! Son of the Commander and Jetstream!" he said excitedly, standing up and shaking Will's hand.
I rolled my eyes.
"My name's Ron Wilson, Sky High bus driver," he said, still excited.
I did my best to ignore things as a dorky little kid tried to give his seat up for them. Next thing I knew, another nerdy kid was hitting on Layla. And I was just trying to hang out in the back, letting everyone pretend I wasn't there.
The bus lurched to a stop and Ron Wilson turned around to us. "Next stop, Sky High!"
What the fu—my thoughts were interrupted as we drove off an unfinished bridge and seatbelts wound their way around me. What the hell was going on?! What kind of weirdo made a flying bus?
Ron made some speech about the school that I didn't listen to before making a rough landing. I walked out after Will and Layla on legs that seemed to be made out of jelly. It wasn't that I minded heights—I liked sitting on rooftops, even—it was the fact that that bus didn't quite seem safe. And I was taken totally by surprise when we nearly plummeted off a bridge.
"You okay?" Layla asked, eyeing me with concern as we passed a herd of cheerleaders.
"Fine," I said shakily. "No problem at all."
I found myself walking on the edge of the group, watching everyone around me with the same intensity that I always did. Will always said that it was strange, but it was just what I had to do. If we went to a restaurant, I had to have the corner booth so that I could watch everyone. If we took a bus somewhere, I needed to sit in the back to keep an eye on things. It's just what I did.
So of course I noticed the tall guy and the fat guy standing a ways away, watching the freshmen and me.
"God, I hate that cheer!" the fat kid said as the cheerleaders morphed into one girl.
This place was seriously fucked up. But I concurred with him; cheers sucked.
"Speed, round them up," the tall guy in stripes said.
Next thing I knew, I was trapped in a vortex, pressed up against Will and Layla. The fat kid skidded to a stop in front of us and my rusty little brain made a couple very simple, yet difficult, connections.
"Hey, freshmen!" he yelled. "Your attention, please!"
Stripes appeared at his side. "I'm Lash, this is Speed. And as members of the Sky High welcoming committee…"
"…We'd be happy to collect that fifteen dollar new student fee," Speed finished as Lash stretched his arm out in front of me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Clever."
"There was nothing about a new student fee in the handbook," a kid from the bus said.
Wanting desperately to punch him in the face, I suppressed my violent urges and instead turned my attention to Lash. He wasn't too unfortunate looking, with his shaggy brown hair and bad attitude, and he was certainly more interesting than the brunette Barbie quickly approaching. Her pink outfit gave me a sudden urge to vomit, and if her awful fashion sense wasn't enough, she was just…there was something up with her. I didn't know what it was, but she was too nice. No one who wasn't up to something could ever smile like that, and especially right at Will.
"Alright guys, very funny." She said all too sweetly. "I'll take over from here."
I took the opportunity to inch away. I didn't care if she had information that I needed; I couldn't picture myself listening to her for more than a few seconds without trying to rip her apart. However, that didn't mean that I wouldn't be watching her from now on. I saw that dreamy look on Will's face, and if it didn't go away, I was going to have to tear it off.
"Violent, much?" I jumped.
"What, did I say something out loud?" I asked sarcastically. "Oops, my bad. Toss me in the looney bin before it's too late."
Lash crossed his arms. "Gutsy, freshman."
"I try. But I'm not a freshman. Just an unfortunate new kid."
He shared a glance with Speed, who cleared his throat. "So then, new kid, shouldn't you be getting to power placement?"
"You'd think," I said. "Take me there, and I'll go."
"We've got more important things to do," Lash said.
I shrugged. "Fine. I'll wander."
Tossing my bangs out of my eyes, I walked away and headed into the school. I managed to find the gym after only a few wrong turns, and walked in on Zach pretending that he had powers.
"What'd I miss?" I whispered, standing next to Will.
"Zach is making a fool out of himself," he whispered back.
Seemed about right.
The coach sent him flying back into the crowd and I suppressed a little grin. He kind of deserved it, with all of the talking he did about himself. I sat through a few hours of kids turning into puddles, and guinea pigs, and imitations of Coach Boomer before Layla took the opportunity to argue with the man himself.
"I—I believe in only using my powers when the situation demands it," she said.
"Not now, Layla," I hissed. The man looked serious.
"Well, you're in luck. This is a situation, and I'm demanding it."
"But to participate in this test would be to support a flawed system," Layla argued. "I think the whole hero-sidekick-"
"Let me get this straight," Boomer interrupted. "Are you refusing to show me your powers?"
"It's more complicated than that, I mean-"
"SIDEKICK!" he yelled just as the bell rang. "All right. We'll pick it up after lunch. Starting with you." He pointed at me. I gulped. My powers weren't like everyone else's. They were a product of my father's experiments, and were rather…dangerously unpredictable. Kind of like me.
I followed the others out of the gym, chatting with Layla about the whole fascism-thing. "Why don't you just show him your powers?"
"Because," she said. "It's stupid."
"You would probably be a hero," I argued. "Just shut up and-"
I was interrupted when my face hit the floor.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" I yelled, pushing myself up to face Lash and Speed, who stood laughing on the other side of the hall.
"Sparrow, let it go," Will warned as my temper rose.
"Shut up, Stronghold!" I snapped, pointing at him.
He took the hint and tugged Layla along to the cafeteria. He knew I could take care of myself, and I'm sure he didn't want to get caught in the middle of anything destructive.
I marched right up to Lash, who spread his arms wide. "Gonna do anything, little Sparrow?"
"The last guy who messed with me was in the ICU for three weeks," I snarled, grabbing his shirt collar and pulling him down to me. "So I'd suggest that you run off, before something unfortunate happens."
He only continued laughing. "I like your style, Birdie." I felt his arm snake around my waist, and before I could do anything, I was lifted up near the ceiling. "But I prefer you up there."
"Put me down, asshole!" I yelled to him as he turned me upside down. The blood rushed to my head and I felt my face turning colors. When I wasn't returned to the floor after a few seconds, I just folded my arms over my chest and huffed. Idiots.
"Hey, Sparrow!" the girl named Magenta yelled, appearing at the end of the hall. "Quit playing around and come eat lunch!"
"Be there in a minute!" I shouted to her. "Lash, put me down."
"I like you better up there."
"Put. Me. The fuck. Down." I said, aware of the fact that my boobs were dangerously close to falling out of my top.
"If you say so."
Oh look, the ground. In my face. Again.
I groaned and stood up, rolling my shoulders. "Thank you very much."
"That didn't hurt?" Speed asked stupidly.
"Oh, trust me, I'm tougher than that."
He looked at Lash and nudged him with his elbow. "What d'you think?"
Lash seemed to be considering me. "If the other one refuses."
"What are you bastards talking abou-"
"Come on," Magenta interrupted, taking my arm and dragging me away. She was pretty strong for a guinea pig, I had to admit. "Will's wanting to know if you killed anyone yet."
"I wish," I growled.
"Sick," she said in admiration. "You're pretty hardcore, Sparrow. What's your power?"
"Extreme mental problems."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."