Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or its characters, settings etc, all of which belong to Disney. Original characters and concepts belong to me.

A/N: Welcome back to my series! This one picks up a few weeks after the end of Phoenix Unbound, and I strongly recommend that you read the rest of the stories first if you haven't already. Hope you all enjoy the show!

Chapter 1: Villains at Large

The dark-haired woman looked up sullenly as a visitor entered her prison cell. He was an average-looking man in his fifties, dressed in a gray suit.

"What do you want?"

He smiled slightly. "The question is, what do you want?"

She just stared at him across the table as he sat down.

"I can get you out of here," he said quietly.

The woman snorted. She knew who he was and she had no doubt he could do what he offered, but she was even more certain there would be a catch. "And I suppose you'll want me to work for you in return?" He nodded slowly. "Forget it. I'd rather rot in here."

Her visitor didn't seem fazed by her response. "Everyone has their price," he commented casually, leaning forward. He touched her hand with his index finger and suddenly she could feel her powers return.

It was exhilarating, after so many years in the Maxville Ultimate Security Prison where super-powered offenders were incarcerated in a permanent neutralization zone. She could feel it like electricity flowing through her veins, and she lost no time working out how she was going to take full advantage of this moment. Although the lock on her door was a mechanical one which she wasn't able to manipulate with her powers, there was plenty of other damage she could do in order to engineer an escape.

She was just about to put her hastily assembled plan into effect when the man took his finger away from her hand, and her powers disappeared again with it. The anticlimax was almost more than she could bear, but she certainly wasn't going to let him know that. Still, despite her efforts to hide her emotions, he seemed to be able to read her mind like he was a telepath.

"Think it over," he said, looking confident as he got up. "I have a couple of other people to visit, but I'll be back for your answer before I leave."

She glared after him, knowing as well as he did what her decision would be. It simply wasn't possible, after having a taste of power again, that she would be able to refuse.

All she had to do was play along until she could find an opportunity to double-cross him. The man obviously didn't know who he was dealing with, or he wouldn't even think of expecting her to obey him just because he got her out of prison.

Fortunately for her, it seemed that he didn't know better.

"Okay, why am I getting this weird feeling of déjà vu?" remarked Warren as the Guardian Van flew towards Maxville Stadium where The Pretty Boyz were performing that evening.

However, on that occasion the popular boy band was not the reason for the teenagers' hysterical screaming. That had more to do with the way that the roof of the stadium was teetering alarmingly on its supports, threatening to crash down on them at any second. The Mayor had just received a demand for a ridiculous amount of money, along with some photos of terrified hostages and severed steel support columns that looked an awful lot like the handiwork of–

"Eye-Slice!" exclaimed Ethan. "It has to be."

"Isn't he in prison?" asked Kate.

Eye-Slice was a young villain with a lot of ambition, who they'd busted a few months ago for trying to pull a very similar stunt. He had the power of shooting laser beams from his eyes, which he was able to concentrate into a single beam that could cut through metal. However, this was a laborious process and took nearly as long as using a laser cutter, so during a fight he preferred to fire short but deadly laser blasts at his adversaries.

Warren was really glad that this hadn't happened a couple of weeks ago while Will and Kate were away on honeymoon, particularly considering Will was the only one of them who was completely invulnerable to the laser blasts. Kate and Warren could both take a few minor hits thanks to their invulnerability as pyros plus their Kevlar-based uniforms. But a direct hit, especially to the head, could cause them a lot of serious harm.

Under the roof of the stadium there was a complex network of steel columns and girders, but the villain had obviously studied the configuration very carefully. He had strategically left the entire roof balancing on one remaining support column, although even that one was almost severed through and he was standing right there to deliver the final blow. Every now and then a gust of wind would send a ripple groaning through the structure, and the kids below would scream even louder.

For all his ambition, however, it seemed that Eye-Slice was more of a showman than a murderer. From what they could tell he hadn't actually hurt anyone yet, much like the previous time they'd tangled with him. In fact, the whole situation was almost exactly the same. Except, last time there weren't as many hostages and there wasn't as much media attention.

'Does the guy have, like, no sense of originality?' asked Zach on the comm from the front of the Van, as they looked at the precarious roof and the photos delivered to the Mayor.

"Well, this scenario almost worked last time," Ethan reminded him. "We only just got him in time before he made the final slice, remember. Maybe he reckons he'll get luckier now."

"Or maybe he's got some sort of trick up his sleeve this time," Layla suggested doubtfully.

"Yeah, and here's something really weird," said Magenta, looking up from her computer. "There's no record of the guy on the prison roster or any of the usual databases. Officially, he just doesn't exist anymore."

With all the exits to the stadium blocked, the only way in was through one of the gaps that were already starting to appear in the roof's steel sheeting. Warren, Kate and Layla abseiled down from the Van on three of her vines, slipped through the gap to the catwalks just below the girders supporting the roof.

Will flew in dramatically to deliver the usual Surrender-Or-Else line to Eye-Slice on his perch next to the last remaining support, that being the approach he would probably be expecting. If it hadn't been for the danger of causing too much draft past the already precariously-balanced roof supports, Will could have simply flown straight up to the villain at high speed and neutralized him before he knew what had hit him, which was pretty much what he'd done the last time.

Kate and Warren approached on two of the catwalks below the girders, also in full view of the villain. While the three of them kept Eye-Slice's attention focused on them with the standard trade of taunts and dares, Layla made a more secretive approach from the rear. She grew a thin sturdy tree from a catwalk out of view and silently rode it up to behind where the villain was standing and making his threats. Kate had a few flame constructs, in the form of sparks, floating around near the villain, waiting in case there was need for a diversion in a hurry.

Warren was less than keen on this plan, particularly considering how vulnerable Layla would be if he spotted her, especially at such close range, but he kept his concern to himself. This was really their only chance of catching Eye-Slice off-guard, because if any of the other three were missing from the confrontation, he would be expecting something of this sort.

Instead he was blithely making dramatic gestures and threats which were cut short when Layla leant forward slightly and snapped a neutralizing bracelet around his wrist before he had a clue she was there.

'She shoots, she scores!' exclaimed Zach on the comm. 'Hey, if we wrap this up quickly, we'll still be home in time for my favorite TV show.'

"Or not!" breathed Layla in sudden panic.

As Eye-Slice turned around to see who had tried to sneak up on him, she saw his eyes glow white in the way that they usually did when he was powering up. She pushed downwards from the branch she was perched on, using gravity to help her get out of the way as two laser blasts shot from his eyes and burned straight through her tree where she was. The branches caught her a few yards down, while Kate launched her flame constructs at the villain but they didn't seem to bother him at all.

'Why the hell didn't the neutralizer work?' demanded Magenta of no one in particular.

'Could have been a dud,' said Zach.

'No, they all get checked really carefully,' replied Denise, but she sounded confused. 'For obvious reasons.'

Eye-Slice turned his attention back to Will, Warren and Kate. "Is that the best you can do?" he jeered.

Peeking through the foliage she was hiding in, Layla quickly grew some vines and sent them towards the villain to blindfold him, but he just lasered through them before they got anywhere near his eyes. He also took a few pot shots in Layla's general direction.

Warren was about to say something, but Will beat him to it. 'Dryad, get out of there!'

The pyro nodded gratefully. Better that the order came from their team leader than her over-protective husband. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she rode her tree back down to the catwalk she came from.

'I've GOT to do something about fireproof vines,' she muttered as she took cover at a safe distance, although her plants would have to be a lot more than fire resistant to stand up to laser blasts.

Meanwhile Eye-Slice seemed to decide that he'd waited long enough for his big moment, and he cut through the final support with a quick series of laser blasts. The roof started to lurch alarmingly, accompanied by even more public hysteria from below. Will flew towards him and gave him a kick through the face as he grabbed the last column that was severed, the point that seemed to support the whole of the roof, at least somewhat. As the villain fell a few yards before grabbing onto Layla's tree, Will flew off with the roof to the nearest open space, a sports field across the road.

This turn of events seemed to have thrown Eye-Slice for a loop. Now that he no longer had a hostage situation to threaten them with, he appeared to be uncertain what to do next. After a few moments hesitation, he slid the rest of the way down Layla's tree to the catwalk. As soon as he got his balance he ran for it.

'Okay, that's weird,' commented Ethan.

'Yeah, since when did THAT guy ever run away?' said Zach.

'Maybe he's working for someone else, so he can't really make his own decisions,' Denise offered.

Meanwhile, Will had returned from putting the roof down out of the way. He hovered in the air above the stadium, keeping an eye on where Eye-Slice was running along the catwalks, while Warren and Kate tracked him on foot.

"Actually, I don't care why he's running, personally," remarked Warren. "I'm more concerned about him being immune to the neutralizer."

'Maybe he's got some kind of de-neutralizing powers,' suggested Zach.

'Could explain how he got out of the Ultra-Max,' agreed Maj, referring to the Maxville Ultimate Security Prison.

Ethan objected, 'The only person known to have that power is one of the National Council of Superheroes directors, Grey Arnolde.'

'Besides, we managed to capture him just fine before,' Will pointed out.

'Maybe he was faking then,' said Zach, but he sounded like he realized it was a bit of a lame idea. Warren just shook his head in response.

"He must be carrying some sort of device that counteracts the neutralizer," said Kate from a nearby catwalk. They were closing in on Eye-Slice's position and they would soon have him cornered, but they weren't sure exactly how they were going to deal with him.

'We need to try and blindfold him somehow,' said Layla, watching their progress on their sunglasses' camera. 'It's the only way we'll be able to stop him from using his powers.'

That gave Will an idea. He swooped down to the curtained off section of the stadium that was serving as a backstage area and borrowed a roll of duct tape from an astonished roadie, almost giving him a heart attack, before flying at high speed back up to where Eye-Slice was. Coming out of nowhere, he connected his fist with the villain's jaw in a blow that stunned him partially, but with his powers he was almost as invulnerable as Will so the effect wouldn't last long.

Taking advantage of his temporary dazedness, Will blindfolded the villain with a few yards of duct tape wound around his head, just as the two pyros arrived on the scene. Warren winced, thinking how painful it would be when the tape was removed, but then his brief moment of sympathy was over and it was time to get some answers.

"Okay, kid. Here's the deal. Either you tell us how you're immune to the neutralizer, or Eagle is going to fly you way up in the air and drop you from a dizzy height until you do."

Eye-Slice tried his best to look confident as he sneered, "I thought you goody-goody heroes didn't kill people."

"Yeah well, with your powers you're pretty invulnerable," Will pointed out cheerfully. "So you probably won't die but I warn you, it's really gonna hurt."

"You're not allowed to do that," argued the villain, dropping his façade to openly show panic. "The Geneva Convention–"

"The Geneva Convention doesn't apply to people who don't officially exist," Warren replied dryly. He nodded to Will who made a show of getting a good grip on one of the young villain's arms and legs, supposedly in preparation for take-off.

Kate looked over her husband's shoulder. "Hello, what's that?" she asked as she suddenly spotted a strange silvery bracelet around Eye-Slice's ankle similar to their neutralizers. "It looks like one of ours."

Ethan took a close look at the image on the sunglasses cam. 'That could be what's canceling the neutralizer.'

Warren bent down and tried to fiddle with it while the villain struggled violently in Will's grasp. "It doesn't seem to have a catch or anything."

'It might well work on biometrics, in the same way as ours do,' suggested Denise.

"Yeah, but whose?" asked Kate.

'His own, I'm hoping.'

"Looks like we're going to have to turn him into a human pretzel then," Warren said to Will.

Eye-Slice wriggled even harder but he was powerless against Will's strength, and in a few minutes the heroes forced him to touch his thumb against the biometric sensor on the bracelet around his ankle.

But for the second time that day, nothing happened. Even when they tried his other thumb after some more forced gymnastics.

"Now what?" asked Will.

'Uh, maybe try his other fingers?' offered Denise, sounding like she was at a bit of a loss.

In the end it was both the second and third fingers of his left hand that did the trick, and the de-neutralizing bracelet came off at last.

Not that they were about to take off his blindfold and check that the neutralizer was now working. They would leave that for the guards at the Ultra-Max.

Will joined the others in their headquarters half an hour later, after explaining to the Mayor quite why the Maxville Stadium no longer had a roof, and promising to help with fixing it back in place the next day.

He looked at Magenta, Denise and Zach who had been using the time to try and find out who was behind that evening's incident. "Okay, guys, what can you tell me?"

Magenta started with repeating what she had told them before, now that she had even more proof. "Officially, Stanley Wilkinson, a.k.a. Eye-Slice, no longer exists. I did a complete search and there are no records anywhere, even the NCS private file on him has been deleted. His social security number now belongs to someone else, his fingerprints have disappeared and he is no longer on the FBI's wanted list."

"So his file's been totally scrubbed," Ethan surmised.

"More like, he has no file. It's not just that he's vanished, it's like he never existed in the first place."

"Sounds like an impressive super-hacker," remarked Kate.

"Either that or it must have been an inside job," replied Maj, "And that's hardly likely."

"Hmm." Will turned to Denise. "And what about his de-neutralizing device?"

"It seems to have been based on the same design as ours," she reported. "Not coated in Durosium but an alloy that is almost as strong, although not – officially, at least – indestructible."

"So I might be able to break through it then?"

"I have no idea, but I'm not going to let you try on our only sample." Will looked a little disappointed, and she went on, "Anyhow, the basic design might be similar, but the de-neutralizing technology itself is way beyond us. So I suspected that it might even be the work of a technopath."

Zach took over. "And then I found this symbol on it," he said grimly. "It's really really small, but it totally proves that theory."

The rest of them just stared at the emblem he put up on the screen. It was one they knew, even though they hadn't seen it for many years – a crowned helmet with a wide V underneath it.

Royal Pain.